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Nervous  and  Mental  Disease  Monograph  Series  No.  21 


WISHFULFILLMENT  AND  SYMBOLISM 
IN  FAIRY  TALES 


BY 


DR.  FRANZ  RICKLIN 

OF  ZURICH 


AUTHORIZED  TRANSLATION   BY 

DR.  WM.  A.  WHITE 
of  Washiugton,  D.  C. 


NEW  YORK 

THE  NERVOUS  AND   MENTAL  DISEASE 
PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

1915 


NERVOUS   AND  MENTAL   DISEASE 
MONOGRAPH   SERIES 

Edited  by 
Drs.  SMITH  ELY  JELLIFFE  and  WM.  A.  WHITE 

Numbers  Issued 


-Ml 


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2.  Studies  in  Paranoia.     (Out  of  Print. )  ■"■"SyCH. 

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3 .  The  Psychology  of  Dementia  Praecox.     ( Out  of  Print ) . 

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C2d  Edition.)     $2.50.    By  Prof .  Sigmund  Freud. 

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New  York  Psychiatrical  Society. 

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21.  Wishfulfillment  and  Symbolism  in  Fairy  Tales.    $1.00. 

By  Dr.  Ricklin- 


Copyright,    1 91 5,  by 
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TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  I. 
Introduction    i 

CHAPTER  II. 
Wish  Structures  and  their  Forms  4 

CHAPTER  III. 
The  Wish  Structure  of  the  Fairy  Tale   12 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Symbolism   24 

CHAPTER  V. 
The  Symbolism  of  the  Fairy  Tale 33 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Transposition  Upward.     Infantilism    51 

CHAPTER  Vll. 
Some  Special  Sexual  Fairy-Tale  Motives 65 

Index 83 


333GS3 


CHAPTER  P 


Introduction  i 

In  psychiatry  and  the  related  sciences  there  has  lately  broken      ,  \ 

out  a  struggle  for  and  against  the  Freudian  theories.     I  county,  ' 

myself  fortunate  to  be  able,  by  means  of  such  beautiful,  inviting  ' 

material  as  fairy  tales,  to  bear  a  weapon  in  this  conflict.  ^ 

An  accident,  in  which  a  chain  of  causes  culminated  in  a  careful  J 

examination  of  the  Freudian  mechanisms  (the  foundation  works  -j 

of  this  investigator  have  naturally  become  of  the  greatest  im-  \ 

portance  for  the  proposed  work)  led  me,  through  working  with  ] 

fairy  tales,  to  go  forth  out  of  the  realm  of  clinical  psychiatry  and  \ 

tread  ground  that  was  formerly  not  especially  known  to  me  but  | 

pwhere  I  soon  felt  myself  at  home.     For  the  psychology  of  fairy\  ■ 

tales,  as  we  have  learned  to  know  through  Freud,  stands  in  close!  ^ 

relationship  to  the  world  of  dreams,  of  hysteria,  and  of  mental  I  1 

^disease.    My  excursion  into  this  territory  was  fraught  with  certain^  1 

difficulties  all  of  which  I  could  not  overcome  and  which  prevented  ; 

me  at  first  from  getting  anything  conclusive  from  my  researches.  ' 
The  material  is  too  great  for  a  novice  to  be  able  to  fathom  it  in 
all  directions  in  a  short  time,  so  I  was  provisionally  constrained  to 

take  my  examples  from  only  a  portion  of  the  known  collections  j 
of  fairy  tales.     The  greatest  difficulty  was  due  to  my  philological 

and  my  historical  shortcomings.     With  a  broader  philological  j 

knowledge  more  could  be  gained  from  the  same  material.     I  have^  \ 
for  example,  an  impression,  that  in  the  Germanic  mythology  manyj 

documents  lie  buried  that  to  me  were  simply  inaccessible.               j  / 

However,  that  is  not  an  absolute  obstacle.  One  is  entitled  to  ] 
examine  the  separate  tales  as  final  in  themselves  for  when,  in  a  >^i 
given  instance,  the  work  of  interpretation  is  successful  and  the    w^       j 

symbols  are  explained,  each  tale  is  dealt  with  as  a  complete  theme**'  I 

in  itself.     Some  render,  apparently  unaltered,  old  myths,  which  | 

we  analyze  with  success  as  psychological  wholes.    Others  contain  \ 

and  utilize  only  fragments  of  myths  as  material  for  a  new  one  that  j 

again  is  complete  in  itself.     These  mythological  fragments  have  ] 
been  followed  up  actively  but  the  full  significance  of  these  tales 

1  Wunscherfiillung  und  Symbolik  im  Marchen.     Schriften  zur  ange-  "j 

wandten  Seelenkunde.     No.  2.     (Deuticke,  Vienna.)  \ 


WISHFULFILrlM"ENf  ■  AND  SYMBOLISM   IN  FAIRY  TALES 

'flras  not  been  grasped  nor  exhausted.  Psychological  analysis  by 
the  use  of  Freud's  methods  and  results  was  the  first  to  accomplish 
this.  This  is  successful,  for  tho^fairy  tales  are  inventions  of  the 
directly  utilized,  immediately  conceived  experiences  of  the  primi- 
tive human  soul  and  the  general  human  tendency  to  wishfulfill- 
ment,  which  we  find  again  in  modern  fiction  only  somewhat  more 
complicated  and  garbed  in  different  forms.  Thus  we  come  to 
examine  and  interpret  fairy  tales  and  mytlis  not  only  along  astro- 
nomical and  abstract  lines  but  primarily  in  accordance  with  their 
deeper  psychological  trendy 

Anyhow  I  arrived  at  the  pleasing  and  important  conclusion, 
that  for  my  work,  it  was  not  necessary  for  the  investigation  of 
fairy  tales,  in  a  psychological  sense,  to  know  their  historical  pedi- 
gree first.     In  fact  this  is  often  impossible.     I  found  in  the  intro- 
duction to  "  Sammlung  Neuislandischer  Volksmarchen  "  by  Frau 
Dr.  Rittershaus^  the  following,  for  me,  not  a  philologist,  consoling 
conclusion :  that  the  Icelandic  fairy  tales  are  found  step  by  step  in 
agreement  with  the  German  folk  tales ;  that  they,  in  part  at  least, 
are  common  Germanic  property,  but  that,  especially,  the  theory 
that  all  European   fairy  tales  sprang  from   India  is  incorrect. 
Many  facts  establish,  how  a  whole  mass  of  fairy  tales,  especially 
in  Iceland,  are  indigenous,  autocthonous,  that  in  certain  ones  a 
Alater  immigration  is  demonstrable ;  that  thegreatmajority  of  fairy 
\  tales  have  probably  arisen  at  different  places  and  at  dift'erent, 
\  indeterminable  times ;  that  it  is  impossible,  to  locate  the  home  of 
I  the  folk  tales,  as  little  as  it  has  been  possible  to  trace  them  all  back 
VJto  one  hazy  Aryan  myth. 

And  Stoll  ("Suggestion  und  Hypnotismus  in  der  Volkerpsy- 
chologie,"  II.  Auflage,  Leipzig,  1904)  shows  in  different  places, 
how  suggestive  and  autohypnotic  actions,  procedures  and  views  of 
the  same  sort  occur  among  peoples  who  are  not  closely  related 
one  with  one  another  either  geographically  or  historically  or 
through  descent.  Only  the  psychic  foundation  is  everywhere  the 
same. 

Finally  my  work  itself  proves  to  me  that  the  human  psyche 
produces  at  all  times  and  in  all  places  suggestive  and  hypnotic 

fhenomena,  produces  universally,  just  as  general,  for  example,  a 
ymbolism,  which  is  chiefly  constructed  from  the  unconscious  and 

^  Halle  a.  S.,  Max  Niemcyer,  1902. 


INTRODUCTION. 


twhich  is  found  in  fairy  tales  as  a  primitive  poetic  production,  and    / 
[again  in  the  dream  and  in  psychopatholog>-. 

^     Now  certainly  the  scientific  method  in  the  psychological  ex-  .|  , 
ploration  of  fairy  tales  is  circumscribed  by  the  investigation  of   I 
dreams  and  of  psychotic  structures.     Here,  through  many  experi- 
ments, one  can  follow  the  sources  and  association  paths  which  the 
elements  in  the  formation  of  the  dream  story  or  the  delusional 
structure  have  supplied.     One  can  compel  the  psyche,  through 
such  wider  information,  to  affirm  or  deny  its  meaning.    The  cre- 
ator of  these  fairy  stories  in  his  traditional  form  is  dead  or  un- 
known to  us.     We  have,  therefore,  on  the  one  hand,  to  refer  to 
the  comparison  of  existing  documents  in  order  to  get  at  the  correct 
interpretation ;  on  the  other  hand,  however,  the  human  psyche  in 
the  dream  and  in  conditions  in  which  the  unconscious  is  especially 
active,  and  also  in  abnormal  psychic  activity,  is  always  still  a  fairy 
poetess,  and  a  continued  comparison  of  these  products  with  the 
fairy  tales  permits  us  to  draw  the  most  valuable  conclusions. 
"    It  is  surprising  how  great  a  role  the  sexual  plays  in  fairy  tales     \ 
and  how  great  is  the  agreement  of  the  sexual  symbolism  with  that     '  r 
of  dreams  and  psychopathology.     When  one  realizes  and  admits, 
however,  that  the  sexuality,  besides  hunger  and  the  social  factors, 
plays  a  leading  role  in  life  and  constantly  influences  our  thoughts 
and  actions  from  youth  up  (for  the  sexuality  develops,  like  every- 
thing else,  from  an  infantile  form  to  a  full,  many  sided  structure) 
then  it  does  not  appear  in  any  way  surprising,  although  the  fairy- 
tales  appear  to  us  in  a  new,  less  childlike  garb.    They  lose  on  that 
account  nothing  of  their  charm  and  power  of  attraction. 


CHAPTER  II 

Wish  Structures  and  their  Forms 

I  must  refrain  here  from  a  statement  of  the  Freudian  investi- 
gations into  the  dream  life  and  the  significance  of  dreams  as  wish 
fulfilHng  and  refer  to  Freud's  "  Traumdeutung  "^  itself.  I  cannot 
enter  into  a  discussion  of  the  results  although  it  is  now  the  order 
of  the  day  in  psychiatr>\  I  rely  upon  numerous  works  of  others 
who  have  successfully  handled-  Freud's  methods,  and  on  my  own 
previous  studies.  Examples  of  well  analyzed  wish  dreams  are  to 
be  found  nearly  everyw-here. 

I  cannot  refrain,  however,  from  taking  an  example  from  life. 

A  young  man  had  seen,  for  the  first  time,  the  young  lady  who 
later  was  to  become  his  wife.  Soon  thereafter  on  falling  asleep 
he  had  the  following  optic,  extraordinarily  plastic,  symbolic 
dream.  He  stood  before  a  large  portal  hung  with  thick,  blooming 
garlands.  Two  garlands  were  fastened  to  a  button  at  the  upper 
part  of  the  door  and  hung  down  separated  one  from  one  another. 
While  the  portal  was  at  first  about  the  size  of  a  mouth  it  became  a 
church  portal  into  which  he  as  a  very  small  man  entered.  It  ap- 
peared to  him  as  though  he  was  leading  someone.^ 

Naturally  here  we  are  dealing  with  an  erotic  wish  dream  which 
is  prophetic  of  a  happy  future  while  indeed  only  too  often  the 
wish  fulfillment  in  the  dream  is  a  surrogate  for  reality  which 
refuses  the  fulfillment  of  the  wish. 

The  single  elements  of  this  symbolic  marriage  in  which  coitus 
as  well  as  the  marriage  ceremony  are  contained  in  strong  conden- 
sation, in  flowery,  colored  dramatization,  spring  from  tlie  events 
of  the  preceding  day.  The  young  man  had  called  upon  an  ac- 
quaintance and  stumbled  unexpectedly  upon  the  preparations  for 
the  arrival  of  an  heir:  the  child's  bed  was  embellished  with  the 
usual  curtains,  these  gave  the  garlands  in  the  dream  their  form, 

1  "  Die  Traumdcutung,"  1900. 

2  For  example,  Blculer  and  Jung  in  Ziirich. 

8  Compare  the  picture  "Triumphal  Procession  of  Priapus  "  by  Salvisti 
u.  Fuchs,  "  Das  erotische  Element  in  dcr  Karikatur,"  1904. 


WISH    STRUCTURES   AND   THEIR   FORMS  5 

which  on  the  other  hand  showed  a  great  similarity  with  the  ex- 
ternal formation  of  the  female  genitals ;  his  own  person  as  a  small 
man,  that  entered  under  this  wreathed  portal,  is  a  very  ingenious 
dramatization  of  masculinity.  The  festive  green  was  co-deter- 
mined by  the  sight  of  the  little  daughter  of  another  acquaintance 
Avhom  he  had  visited  on  the  same  day,  who  had  smeared  her 
mouth,  in  eating,  with  greens  and  so  looked  very  funny.  f^ 

These  details  suggest  how  many  single  elements,  all  springing 
from  the  same  ideational  sphere,  but  dispersed,  are  brought  to- 
gether in  the  structure  of  the  symbolic  dream  picture. 

The  fairy  tale  also,  since  it  appears  as  a  wish-fulfilling  struc- 
ture, may  also  often  gather  its  material  from  widely  separate 
sources,  from  other  fairy  tales,  from  myths,  which  in  their  essen- 
tials have  a  different  content,  in  order  to  arrange  the  parts  into  a 
new  whole,  with  a  new  content. 

"  Freud  maintains,  that  our  psyche  has  the  tendency  to  so  work 
over  the  world  picture  that  it  corresponds  to  our  wishes  and 
efforts.  This  tendency  comes  to  light  unhindered  in  all  situations 
where  thoughts,  as  moulded  by  external  circumstances,  are  dis- 
turbed in  their  logical  relations  to  reality.  That  is  the  case  in  the 
dream,  then,  however,  also  in  all  psychic  activities  of  waking, 
which  are  not  guided  by  attention." 

Proceeding  from  this  position  Bleuler*  shows  the  occurrence 
of  Freud's  mechanisms  in  the  different  psychoses. 

In  order  now  to  show  the  fairy  tale  in  its  relationship  with 
other  wish  structures  I  give  the  following  example. 

We  take  Bleuler's  own  example  in  his  last  cited  work,  which 
shows  the  proneness  of  poetic  phantasy  to  roam  into  the  wish 
territory. 

The  poet,  whose  longings  reality  can  not  still,  creates  for  him- 
self, quite  unconsciously,  in  phantasy,  what  life  has  denied  to  him. 
Many  of  the  most  beautiful  love  songs  have  been  written  by  those 
who  w^ere  unhappy  in  love.  Gottfried  Keller  had  no  luck  precisely 
with  those  women  who  corresponded  to  his  high  ideals ;  therefore 
he  had  the  need  to  commit  "  the  sweetest  of  poetic  sins,  to  invent 
lovely  women  such  as  are  not  found  on  this  sad  earth."  This 
busying  himself  with  pictures  of  women  is  for  him  the  substitute 

*  Bleuler,  "  Freudsche  Mechanismen  in  der  Symptomatologie  von  Psy- 
chosen,"  Psychiatr.-neurol.  Wochenschrift,  1906,  No.  35  and  z^- 


-k 


6  WISIIFULFILLMENT  AND  SYMBOLISM   IN  FAIRY  TALES 

Iior  love.  One  of  the  greatest  of  writers  for  children  of  all  time, 
Johanna  Spyri,  began  first  to  write  when  she  had  to  give  up 
longed-for  grandchildren;  she  has  made  grandchildren  for  herself 
in  her  poetry.^ 

Walter  von  der  Vogelweide,  who  often  mourned  over  his 
poverty,  tells  in  his  poems  frequently  of  unveiled  wish  dreams 
which  his  chivalry-loving  ideals  let  come  to  pass. 

I  wot  it  came  to  be 
All  lands  were  serving  me; 
My  soul  was  light  and  free, 
No  care  to  burden  me; 
The  body,  at  its  ease, 
Was  moving  as  it  pleased; 
Nought  there  was  to  trouble  me. 
May  God  decree  what  is  to  be — 
A  fairer  dream  I  ne'er  shall  see. 

In  still  more  detail  he  relates  a  wish  dream  in  the  following 
poem: 

Lady,  take  this  wreath, — 

I  said  to  a  beauteous  maiden ; — 

And  you  will  grace  the  dance 

With  the  flowers,  fair  to  see. 

Had  I  but  precious  stones. 

You  should  be  decked  therewith; 

Believe  my  promises. 

Behold  my  faithfulness! 

She  took  what  I  held  dut, 
Like  a  joyous  child, 
And  her  cheeks  flushed 
Like  roses  among  the  lilies. 
Graciously  she  bowed  her  head. 
But  dropped  her  beauteous  eyes — 
And  this  was  my  reward, 
None  greater  did  I  crave! 

Through  what  she  did  to  me 
I  must  at  this  summer  time 
Search  the  eyes  of  all  maidens, 

My  anxious  quest  to  end — 
s 
6  Since  then  the  wonderful  analysis  of  Freud  kas  appeared:  "Der 
Wahn  und  die  Triiume,"  in  W.  Jensen's  "  Gradiva,"  as  the  first  volume  of 
these  "  Schriftcn."  Unfortunately  we  know  too  littf^  of  the  psychological 
relation  in  which  the  poet  of  tliis  Pompcyan  phant.^sj"  stood  to  it.  Probably 
in  a  very  intimate  relation;  it  is  one  of  the  "livirm"  poems. 


WISH    STRUCTURES   AND   THEIR    FORMS  7 

Will  she  come  to  this  dance? 
Lady,  by  your  graciousness, 
Raise  the  veil — let  me  peep 
Underneath  the  garland. 

So  fair  and  sweet  are  you, 
That  gladly  will  I  give 
The  best  of  all  I  have. 
I  know  of  flowers,  red  and  white. 
Growing  many  in  the  meadow, 
Where  they  unfold  in  beauty, 
And  where  the  birds  are  singing — 
Then  together  let  us  pluck  them ! 

Greater  happiness  I  never  felt 

Than  had  now  fallen  to  my  lot ! 

From  the  blossoming  trees 

Petals  dropped  on  us  and  o'er  the  grass, 

Then  I  laughed  with  joy. 

As  I  was  so  happy. 

And  so  rich  in  my  dream,, 

The  dawn  came,  and  I  must  waken! 

r  In  "  Kokoro "  by  Lafcadio  Hearn  there  is  a  charming  Jap^ 
anese  tale  "  The  Nun  in  the  Temple  of  Armida."  It  describes 
very  effectively  the  formation  and  activity  of  a  psychic  wish  and 
substitution  formation  that  follows  in  some  measure  Bleuler's 

\  example  of  Johanna  Spyri.  There  the  poetess  creates  in  phan- 
tasy the  wished-for  grandchildren,  here  the  mother  her  lost  child, 
going  to  the  point  of  formal  indentification. 

In  the  original  it  is  related,  in  wonderful  language,  how 
O-Toyo  during  the  long  absence  of  her  husband  in  the  service 
of  the  liege  lord,  performed,  with  her  little  son,  the  daily  duties 
and  attended  piously  to  all  the  good,  religious  customs  that  were 
observed  on  such  occasions.  Daily  she  spread  for  her  husband 
who  was  afar  off,  a  miniature  meal  on  a  small  table,  as  if  the 
manes  and  gods  oft'ered  it.  If  there  is  moisture  on  the  inner  side 
of  this  little  dish  cover,  she  is  peaceful,  because  she  is  then  certain, 
according  to  the  prevailing  belief,  that  her  absent  sweetheart  still 
lives.  Her  small  boy  is  her  constant  joy  and  she  busies  herself 
with  him  in  various  intimate  ways.  They  wander  together 
through  the  wonderful  country  to  the  far-off  mountain  Dakeyama, 
seen  in  the  distance,  where  all  those  go,  who  wait  anxiously  for 


8  WISHFULFILLMENT  AND  SYMBOLISM   IN   FAIRY  TALES 

dear  ones  far  away.  On  the  peak  of  this  mountain  stands  a 
stone  of  the  same  height  and  similar  in  appearance  to  a  man, 
about  which  pebbles  lay  and  are  heaped  up.  A  nearby  Shinto 
sanctuary  is  dedicated  to  the  spirit  of  a  princess,  who  looked  out 
from  the  mountain  after  her  distant  beloved  one  until  she  was 
consumed  by  sorrow  and  turned  into  stone.  In  going  away  one 
prays  and  takes  one  of  the  piled  up  pebbles  along.  If  the  be- 
loved one  returns  the  stone  must  be  taken  back  and  offered  as  a 
gift  of  thanks  and  in  remembrance,  with  a  number  of  other 
pebbles. 

O-Toyo's  husband  died  while  away  and  shortly  aftenvards 
the  little  son  died  too.  All  this  only  came  to  her  consciousness  in 
sudden  flashes.  Between  these  flashes  of  knowledge  reigned  that 
deep  darkness  which  the  gods  in  their  pity  have  given  to  man. 

Now  comes  the  fulfilling  wish  structure.  As  the  darkness 
begins  to  recede  and  O-Toyo  is  left  alone  wnth  her  memories  she 
orders  small  playthings,  spreads  out  children's  garments  on  the 
grass,  fondles  and  chats  with  smiles  that  often,  indeed,  change  to 
loud,  convulsive  sobs. 

She  has  recourse  to  magic  rites.  The  wise  priest  strikes,  after 
a  suggestive  ceremonial,  upon  a  curved  instrument  and  repeats 
"Hitazo-jo!"  "I  have  come."  In  calling  he  gradually  changes 
his  voice,  until  it  takes  on  the  sound  of  that  of  the  wished-for 
deceased,  whose  spirit  has  now  entered  into  him. 

In  this  manner  O-Toyo  receives  the  following  consoling 
knowledge :  "  O  mother,  cry  no  more  on  my  account,  it  is  not 
right  to  moan  for  the  dead  ;*'  their  mute  way  leads  over  a  stream 
of  tears,  and  when  mothers  cry,  the  flood  rises  so  the  soul  can  not 
get  over  but  must  wander  restlessly  here  and  there." 

From  this  hour  on  she  was  no  longer  seen  crying.  But  she 
will  not  marry  again  and  has  commenced  to  manifest  a  strange 
love  for  every  thing  little.  Her  bed,  the  house,  the  room,  the 
flower  vases,  the  cooking  vessels  are  too  large  for  her.  She  eats 
only  out  of  tiny  dishes  with  small,  children's  knives  and  forks, 
and  spoons.  She  is  permitted  to  do  as  she  wishes  for  she  has  no 
other  caprices. 

Her  parents,   with   whom   she  lived,  were   old   and   advised 

"The  same  idea  is  at  tlie  bottom  of  the  fairy  talc  of  the  "Little  Tear 
Jug";  see  following. 


WISH    STRUCTURES   AND   THEIR   FORMS  9 

O-Toyo  to  become  a  nun  in  a  little,  wee  temple  with  a  little  altar 
and  small  pictures  of  Buddha  so  that  she  would  not  be  among 
strangers.  She  agreed  gladly  and  a  little  temple  with  all  its  little 
parts  was  built  for  her  in  the  court  of  the  former  temple  of 
Armida.  She  made  garments  on  a  little  loom  that  were  much  too 
small  for  use,  but  whidh  were  bought  by  certain  store  keepers 
who  knew  her  story. 

Her  greatest  joy  is  the  society  of  children  who  pass  most  of 
their  time  with  her.  The  children  play  with  her  as  their  equal 
and  she  is  like  a  sister  to  the  small  ones.  And  after  her  death 
they  set  up  a  wee  little  grave  stone. 

The  tendency  to  identification  with  the  wish  object,  which" 
reaches,  in  this  story,  a  very  intensive  grade  of  the  wish-fulfilHng 
activities,  has  been  observed  by  others  in  the  psychoses,  namely 
dementia  prsecox. 

I  take  the  following  example  from  Jung:  a  woman  in  the 
climacterium  suffered  a  condition  in  which  she  felt  her  arms  and 
legs  becoming  always  smaller;  she  wished  to  be  carried  in  the 
arms  and  felt  how  she  would  let  herself  go.  Such  patients  also 
coin  expressions — "  I  am  "  instead  of  "  I  would  like  to  have  " 
witli  relation  to  the  wish  object.  Compare  Jung,'^  "  I  am  the  main 
key,"  "  I  am  the  crown,"  etc.,  instead  of  "  the  main  key  belongs 
to  me,"  etc. 

Bleuler,  Jung  and  the  author  have  published  in  recent  times 
a  great  number  of  examples  of  wish  dreams,  wish  deliria,  and 
permanent  symptoms,  namely  ideas  of  grandeur  in  the  psychoses, 
which  are  conceived  as  pathological  compensation  products  of  un- 
fulfilled and  unfulfillable  wishes. 

The  ideas  of  grandeur  of  a  patient  who  is  Queen  Regent,  Go'd^ 
of  Love  Semele,  Mary,  Venus,  Ida  von  Toggenburg,  Princess 
Thorn-Rose,  Cinderella,  Bundesgerichtsdame  Helvetia,  von  Jung 
Elfenlieb,  Simmenthaler  Rassenkalb  and  many  other  titles  of  high 
social  position  or  great  fertility,  as  well  as  the  mistakes  of  the 
persons  united  in  her  and  of  her  desired  husband  Zeus,  Helveticus, 
Marchenprinz,  Muneli  von  Steiermark  (a  blue  ribbon  bull),  etc., 
suggest  not  only  the  relationship  of  these  wish  titles  with  the  wish 
structure  of  the  fairy  tale  but  also  the  deeper  understanding  of 

'■  Jung,  "  Ueber  die  Psychologic  der  Dementia  praecox,"  Halle  a.  S.,  C. 
Marhold,  1907.     See  Monograph  Series,  No.  3,  for  translation. 


lO  WISHFULFILLMENT  AND  SYMBOLISM   IN   FAIRY  TALES 

!  the  fairy  tales  by  the  patient  in  the  sense  in  which  they  should  be 
I  understood  in  this  work. 

Social  weakness,  intellectual  and  other  defectiveness,  defeat 
in  the  sexual  competition.  Lack  of  sexual  satisfaction  is  often 
bound  up^  with  the  disposition  to  psychoses,  so  that  it  must  not 
surprise  us,  if  the  psychoses  produce,  in  like  frequency,  wish 
structures,  and  that  the  patients,  in  these  structures,  are  rich, 
fruitful,  strong,  of  princely  descent,  marry  princes  and  princesses, 
and  that  the  rivals  and  adversaries  are  killed  and  avenged. 

Indeed  the  clinical  forms  of  these  wish  structures  and  the 
diseases  belonging  to  them  are  very  varied. 

A  poor  maiden  wanted  to  marry  a  shoemaker  and  did  not  get 
him.  We  are  poorly  informed  of  the  exact  processes  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  psychosis.  But  a  peculiar  motor  stereotypy  which 
lasted  over  thirty  years  could  still  be  traced  back  to  its  origin. 
During  the  whole  day,  tireless  as  a  pendulum,  she  stroked  the 
back  of  the  left  hand  with  the  back  of  the  right  fist,  so  that  the 
skin  over  the  joints  of  the  fingers  of  the  right  hand  was  thickened 
and  horny  and  the  joints  themselves,  as  was  demonstrated  at 
autopsy,  had  suffered  a  wearing  away  of  the  articular  cartilages 
(so-called  arthritis  deformans).  It  turned  out  that  the  stereotypy 
had  followed  from,  what  in  the  first  years  was  a  quite  clearly 
recognizable  movement  of  shoe  polishing,  which  points  us  to  the 
relation  with  the  unhappy  love  for  the  shoemaker. 

Another  form  is  that  of  the  wish  delirium. 

A  young  woman  with  a  very  good  literary  and  musical  educa- 
tion, wished  nothing  better  than  to  marry  a  young  and  excellent 
artist.  Her  wishes  were  without  prospect  of  fulfillment ;  an  acute 
illness  set  in.  She  was  committed  to  the  asylum  and  conceived 
of  the  commitment  of  herself  and  everything  that  happened  about 
her  as  a  descent  into  the  underworld.  The  determiner  of  these 
thoughts  was  the  artist's  last  work  "  Charon."  The  further  hap- 
penings in  her  environment  she  interpreted  by  the  occurrence  of 
a  whole  mass  of  reminiscences  brought  together  out  of  her  life, 
as  difficulties  or  objections,  which  opposed  her  union  with  her 
beloved,  but  finally  everything  was  overcome.  Finally  she  saw 
in  a  fellow  patient  her  beloved  and  slept  with  her  several  nights. 

8  The  question  of  the  causality  of  these  factors  will  here  be  left  open; 
certainly  there  exists  a  tension  between  the  attainable  and  the  wished  for. 


WISH    STRUCTURES   AND   THEIR    FORMS  II 

After  this  she  believed  herself  pregnant,  felt  and  heard  twins  in 
her  womb,  later  believed  herself  later  to  have  been  delivered  of 
them  and  hallucinated  a  child  by  her  in  her  bed.  With  this  the 
wish  delirium,  of  nearly  three  months  standing  came  to  a  close. 
She  had  found — unfortunately  not  definitely — a  curative  surro- 
gate for  reality. 

Among  the  so-called  prison  psychoses,  mental  diseases  which 
are  produced  through  confinement,  and  either  belong  to  the  known 
clinical  disease  groups  or  perhaps  occur  as  independent  diseases, 
are  found  certain  cases  of  outspoken  wish  type.  The  voices  . 
announce  freedom,  beloved  relations  rescue  the  prisoner  or  simi- 
lar things.  ]\Ioritz  von  Schwind  has  represented  in  an  exceed- 
ingly convincing  manner  in  his  "  Dream  of  the  Prisoner  "  the  wish 
dream  of  one  in  confinement  (original  in  the  Schack  gallery  in 
Munich).  "v 

The  wish  structure  can,  as  already  said,  take  on  any  number  f* 
of  clinical  forms,  ecstasy,  cataleptic  states,  transitory  sensory  falsi-  ! 
fications,  hysteriform  attacks,  mimic  automatisms,  the  progressive! 
development  extending  over  years  of  a  wish-fulfilling  delusional/ 
system  with  otherwise  correct  behavior,  and  so  forth.  / 

naturally  it  is  not  meant  to  say  that  all  that  we  see  in  the 
mental  diseases  are  only  wish  structures,  however  these  stand  to 
the  remaining  appearances  of  the  pathological  complex  in  a  quite 
special  relation  which  we  will  not  follow  further  here. 

I  hope  through  narration  and  observed  examples  taken  from 
literature,  more  than  through  such  a  clinical  and  theoretical  expo- 
sition, to  have  shown  the  significance  of  wish  structures  in  our 
psychology  and  so  to  have  prepared  the  understanding  for  simi- 
lar structures  in  the  fairy  tales. 


CHAPTER  III 

The  Wish  Structure  of  the  Fairy  Tale.     Fairy  Tales  as 
Wish  Structures 

.^-  There  are  countless  fairy  tales  which  when  submitted  to  anal- 
.  I  ysis  and  taken  as  a  whole  are  found  to  represent  the  most  splendid 
I  wish  structures.  Innumerable  fairy  tales,  as  well  as  myths  and 
\/  legends,  tell  us  about  magic  gifts,  objects  and  qualities,  which  the 
^  human  wish-phantasy  has   created. 

■  In  the  "  Bekenntnissen  einer  schonen  Seele  "   (Goethe,  Wil- 

helm  Meisters  Lehrjahre,  Book  VI)  this  conception  of  the  fairy 
tales  is  very  beautifully  presented: 

"  What  would  I  not  have  given  to  possess  a  creature  that 
played  a  very  important  role  in  one  of  my  aunt's  fairy  tales.  It 
was  a  little  lamb  that  had  come  to  a  peasant  maid  in  the  woods 
and  had  been  fed;  but  in  this  pretty  little  animal  there  was  an 
enchanted  prince,  who  finally  appeared  again  as  a  beautiful  }^ung 
man  and  rewarded  his  benefactress  by  his  hand.  Such  a  l^ib  I 
would  have  loved  to  possess."  The  story  of  the  "  Nun  of  the 
Temple  of  Armida  "  gives  us  an  opportunity  to  enter  upon  a  group 
of  fairy  tales  of  which  the  story  of  "  The  Little  Tear  Jug"  serves 
as  a  good  example.^ 

Three  days  and  nights  a  mother  watched,  cried  and  prayed  at 
the  sick  bed  of  her  only  beloved  child  without  whom  she  could  not 
live.  The  child  died.  The  mother  was  seized  with  a  nameless 
pain,  she  did  not  eat  or  drink  and  wept  three  long  days  and  nights 
without  ceasing  and  cried  out  after  the  child.  Then  the  door 
softly  opened  and  before  her  stood  her  dead  child  who  (in  the 
present  wording  of  the  tale)  had  become  a  holy  angel  and  smiled 
in  glory.  He  carried  in  his  hands  a  little  jug  that  was  almost 
running  over.  He  said :  "  O  dear  little  mother,  weep  no  more  for 
me!  See!  in  this  jug  are  your  tears  which  you  have  shed  for  me. 
One  more  and  the  little  jug  will  overflow  and  then  I  will  no  longer 
have  any  rest  in  the  grave  or  any  blessedness  in  heaven.     Tlicn 

^  Ludwig  Bechstein's  "Marchenbuch,"  II.  Illiistrierte  Ausgabe,  Leipzig, 
G.  Wigand,  1857. 

12 


WISH    STRUCTURE   OF   THE   FAIRY   TALE  I3 

weep  no  more,  for  your  child  has  been  raised  on  high  and  angels 
are  his  playmates."  With  that  he  disappeared  and  his  mother 
wept  no  more  tears  so  as  not  to  disturb  her  child's  rest  in  the 
grave  or  his  joy  in  heaven.  ,  y 

If  we  take  the  motive  here  in  "The  Little HTear  Jug"  and  in 
the  Japanese  story  of  "  The  Nun  of  the  Temple  of  Armida " 
which  appears  as  magic,  in  its  psychological  significance,  so  we 
have  ajteleological  structure  that  is  equivalent  in  its  psychic  heal- 
jng  tendency  to  the  other  wish  structures.  This  fairy  tale  might'/ 
just  as  well  be  the  true  narrative  of  a  dream  experienced  by  a 
person  in  the  circumstances  described  which  led  to  the  stilling  of 
their  sorrow  and  to  rest. 

Now  it  is  not  only  in  regard  to  single  events,  but  this  healing^ 
agent  has  come  to  be  a  general,  psychic  purposeful  belief  that  the 
dead  as  a  result  of  excessive  grief  are  disturbed  in  their  rest.  I 
That  is  not  a  therapy  for  the  dead  but  for  the  living.  The  same 
belief  is  expressed  in  the  words  of  the  spirit  of  the  dead  child 
who  by  autosuggestion  has  entered  the  Japanese  priest  and  attains 
in  the  good  O-Toyo  the  wished- for  object.  And  does  not  the, 
Christian  belief,  that  the  dead  children  all  go  to  heaven,  work' 
quite  the  same  way? 

The  same  motive  in  a  somewhat  different  setting  is  treated  in 
another  fairy  tale,  "The  Shroud"   (Grimm). 

The  mother  wept  after  the  death  of  her  little  boy.  Soon  after 
the  child  appeared  at  night  in  the  place  where  it  had  eaten  and 
played  during  life;  the  mother  cried  and  so  did  the  child  and  then 
disappeared  at  morning.  As  the  mother  would  not  cease  weeping 
it  came  in  the  night  in  its  little  white  shroud,  sat  at  the  foot  of  her 
bed  and  said:  "  O  mother,  stop  crying  or  I  cannot  rest  in  my  grave 
for  my  shroud  is  wet  with  the  tears  which  fall  on  it."  As  she 
heard  this  the  mother  was  frightened  and  cried  no  more.  The 
next  night  the  child  came  again  holding  a  little  light  in  his  hand 
and  showed  that  now  as  his  shroud  w^as  dry  he  could  rest  in  his 
grave.  Then  the  mother  commended  herself  to  God  in  her  grief 
and  bore  it  quietly  and  patiently^  and  the  child  did  not  return  but 
slept  in  his  bed  under  the  ground. 

The  hallucinations  whose  sudden  appearance,   for  example,  ; 

2  For  further  literature  see  Rittershaus,  "  Neuislandische  Volksmar- 
chen,"  pp.  14  and  15. 


14  WISHFULFILLMENT  AND  SYMBOLISM  IN  FAIRY  TALES 

stays  the  hand  of  the  would-be  suicide  often  belong  in  the  domain 
of  the  teleological  defense  mechanisms,  indeed  not  only  as  cures 
;  for  psychic  wounds  but  as  protection  against  danger. 
M.  We  turn  to  numberless  wish  structures  occurring  in  fairy 
I  tales — ^also  in  mytholog}%  legends,  beliefs  in  magic,  etc. — which 
f  may  be  pointed  out  with  little  difficulty  to  correspond,  in  part  most 
I  naively,  to  human  wishes  created  from  our  insufficiencies,  this  is 
\  one  side  of  their  significance  at  least.  (Probably  they  have  still 
ij^another,  erotic  side.) 

In  itself  it  is  not  striking  that  the  fairy  tale  should  concern 
itself  so  much  about  kings ;  the  matter  acquires  a  wish  coloring, 
however,  as  soon  as  we  consider  many  fairy  tales  in  which  the 
poor  peasant  maid  marries  a  prince  and  the  shepherd  boy  a 
princess.     Those  are  wish  structures ! 

A  whole  mass  of  means  serve  for  the  betterment  of  human 
deficiencies.  Seven  league  boots  for  Hop  o'  my  Thumb,  strength 
giving  belts,  gloves,  drinks;  to  the  wish  to  be  able  to  fly  corre- 
spond cloaks  and  enchanted  birds  as  means  of  transport ;  a  little 
bed,  with  whidi  one  may  be  carried  even,'where  one  wishes ;  or 
one  is  changed  directly  into  a  bird;  the  desire  to  eat  is  fulfilled  by 
'  (  "  little  table  set  yourself."  Magic  hoods  and  stones  serve  to  help 
against  persecution  or  then  magic  combs  that  turn  into  forests, 
magic  handkerchiefs  that  interpose  a  great  body  of  water  between 
the  pursued  and  the  pursuer,  etc.  Riches  are  acquired  through 
the  gold-shedding  mule,  or  by  vanquishing  giants  by  magic  means. 
There  are  tubes  and  magic  mirrors  to  enable  one  to  see  and  to 
know  everything  that  goes  on  over  the  whole  world.  There  are 
magic  wands  for  turning  living  or  lifeless  beings  into  what  one 
wishes  and  not  the  least  in  order  to  injure  one's  enemies.  There 
are  means  to  look  into  the  future  and  to  attain  one's  wishes,  apples 
of  life  and  water  of  life  for  rejuvenation  and  the  preservation  of 
this  otherwise  all  too  short  existence. 

This  enumeration  is  naturally  quite  incomplete ;  it  contains 
only  examples.  A  more  detailed  citation  is  probably  superfluous 
as  in  every  collection  of  fairy  tales  examples  may  be  found  with- 
out much  difficulty  and  mythology  contains  numerous  proofs. 

I  Two  great  groups  of  fairy  tales  show,  for  example,  in  their 
present  completed  form  a  distinct  wish   fgi-mnfinn,  namely  the 


r 


WISH    STRUCTURE   OF   THE   FAIRY   TALE  1 5 

so-called  stepmother  tales,  and  the  fairy  tales  in  which  the  ment- 
ally or  physically,  weak-  and  feeble-minded  are  the  heroes. 
I       If  we  take  these  fairy  tales  as  such  they  must  be  conceived  at  j 

once  as  wish  dreams  or  other  corresponding  wish  structures  of  j 

the  rejected  maidens  or  the  simpletons.     A  similar  relation  can 
be  worked  out  as  with  the  motive  of  "  The  Little  Tear  Jug."  ^^> 

What  can  be  for  the  individual  a  healing,  wish-fulfilling  surrogate 
for  reality,  can  also  be  generalized  as  a  wish  product  of  a  whole 
set  of  people,  of  an  entire  category  of  people  living  under  the 
same  conditions,  in  which  connection  the  appropriateness  is  not 
as  important  as  the  psychological  tendency  to  think  in  the  sense 
[of  the  wish.  " 

Is  it  otherwise  with  our  poets  ?  Think,  for  example,  of  Gott- 
fried Keller  as  mentioned  by  Bleuler. 

We  have  seen  that  it  is  precisely  those  who  have  been  disap-j^ 
pointed  in  their  social  or  in  their  love  relations  who  put  wish!  ^ 
structures  into  their  poetry. 

Later  we  will  see  that  the  stepmother  fairy  tales  are  only  a  (y'f 
special  group  of  tales  with  sexual  wish  fulfillment.     The  step-  I        j^ 
mother  (in  other  fairy  tales  the  corresponding  role  is  generally 
played  by  a  giantess  or  a  witch,  the  stepmother  is  thus  also  in        ,a, 
this  relation  a  special  case)  is  the  enemy,  the  marplot  in  the  sexual 
wish  structure,  who  is  vanquished.    In  many  fairy  tales  she  her-~T" 
self,  in  others  her  daughter,  is  the  sexual  rival.    The  first  category  I 
shows,  still  clearer  than  the  latter,  her  role  in  the  fairy  tale  wish   j 
structure.     (A  further  interpretation  of  the  figure  of  the  step-   ]^ 
mother  will  be  noted  further  on.) 

In  the  oriental  fairy  tales  the  stepmother  perhaps  cannot  play 
this  role  because  the  relation  in  the  sexual  domain  is  otherwise 
than  with  us. 

"  Cinderella  "  with  its  variations  serves  best  as  an  example  of 
a  stepmother  fairy  tale;  also  "Dame  Holle  "  (Grimm,  No.  24). 
An  Icelandic  Cinderella,  where  the  stepmother  is  relatively  sec- 
ondary, we  find  in  Rittershaus,^  No.  66,  with  parallels  to  this 
theme.  There  is  also  a  sexual  symbolism  contained  in  it  (dog, 
fire,  giant,  burning  the  giant's  skin),  to  which  we  will  later 
return. 

A  peasant  pair  had  three  daughters,  Ingibjorg,  Sigridur  and 

8  A.  Rittershaus,  "  Neuisliindische  Volksmarchen."    Halle  a.  S.,  1902. 


l6  WISHFULFILLMENT  AND  SYMBOLISM   IN  FAIRY  TALES 

Helga.  While  the  two  older  sisters  were  treated  as  princesses 
the  youngest  had  to  do  all  the  work  and  never  received  a  good 
word  for  it.  Once  the  fire  in  the  cottage  had  gone  out  and  as  it 
was  feared  that  Helga  perhaps  would  embrace  the  opportunity  to 
run  away  from  the  house  Ingibjorg  was  sent  forth  to  bring  in 
some  fire  from  somewhere.  As  she  came  by  a  hill  on  her  way 
she  heard  spoken  from  inside  "  would  you  rather  have  me  for  you 
or  against  you?"  She  said  that  that  was  a  matter  of  indifference 
to  her  and  went  on.  Now  she  came  to  a  great  cave.  In  it  meat 
was  cooking  over  a  mighty  fire  and  nearby  stood  a  pot  of  dough. 
She  stirred  the  fire  up  and  as  the  meat  was  nearly  done  she  baked 
a  good  cake  for  herself  from  the  dough  and  let  the  rest  burn. 
Then  she  sat  down  and  ate  with  a  good  relish.  As  she  was  eat- 
ing an  immense  dog  came  in  and  sprang  at  her  with  wagging  tail. 
Angrily  she  turned  away  from  him  but  at  the  same  moment  he 
bit  off  her  hand.  Now  she  ran  back  to  the  l^ouse,  wdthout  think- 
ing of  the  fire,  and  related  her  mishap.  With  the  second  sister 
Sigridur  it  went  no  better,  only  that  the  dog  instead  of  biting  off 
her  hand  bit  off  her  nose.  Finally  Helga  must  be  dispatched  to 
bring  the  fire.  As  she  came  to  the  hill  the  same  question  was  put 
to  her.  She  answered,  however,  quite  differently  from  her  sisters 
that  nothing  was  so  mean  or  insignificant  that  one  would  not 
"wish  to  have  it  for  rather  than  against  one.  In  the  cave  Helga 
'Carefully  cooked  the  meat  and  baked  the  cakes  but  did  not  take  a 
bite  herself.  Tired  and  hungry  she  sat  down  to  await  the  owner 
of  the  cave.  After  a  time  there  were  great  crashes  of  thunder 
and  a  giant  entered  the  cave  followed  by  a  great  dog.  He 
quieted  the  frightened  maiden  with  friendly  words.  They  sat 
down  for  the  evening  meal  and  then  he  let  her  choose  whether 
she  would  sleep  with  him  or  his  dog.  Helga  preferred  the  latter. 
After  a  while  there  came  such  a  thunder  clap  that  the  cave  trem- 
bled. The  giant  suggested  to  her,  if  she  were  afraid,  to  lay  on  the 
step  near  his  bed.  She  gladly  followed  this  suggestion.  Still  more 
awful  thunder  claps  made  her  draw  still  nearer  to  the  giant  until 
finally  she  crept  over  him  into  his  bed.  At  the  same  moment  the 
giant's  skin  fell  off  and  beside  her  lay  a  wonderfully  beautiful 
prince.  Ilelga  quickly  burned  the  skin  and  the  young  man  thank- 
fully greeted  her  as  his  deliverer.  The  next  morning  he  related 
to  her  the  story  of  his  life.    He  promised  soon  to  take  her  from 


WISH    STRUCTURE   OF   THE   FAIRY   TALE  I7 

her  parents'  house  and  lead  her  as  queen  into  his  kingdom.  On 
leaving  her  he  gave  her  a  splendid  cloak  that  she  could  wear 
home  under  her  rags.  Then  he  presented  her  with  a  casket  with 
all  sorts  of  precious  things  and  two  rich  dresses.  These  gifts  she 
must  not  hide  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  at  home  they  would  be 
taken  from  her.  Also  the  dog  gave  her  with  his  paw  on  leaving, 
a  gold  ring,  and  now  she  turned  back  with  all  her  treasure  and 
the  fire  to  her  home.  Here  she  was  treated  worse  than  before 
and  robbed  of  all  her  presents.  After  some  time  a  beautiful  ship 
came  and  anchored  nearby.  The  owner  of  the  ship  inquired 
curiously  of  the  peasant  about  his  affairs  and  asked  finally  whether 
he  had  daughters.  The  peasant  said  he  only  had  two  and  called 
the  two  oldest.  They  came  in  the  clothes  stolen  from  their  sister, 
however,  one  hid  her  hand  and  the  other  had  a  cloth  bound  about 
her  nose.  The  newcomer  inquired  curiously  for  the  reason  of 
this  covering  up  until  their  mutilation  was  made  plain.  Now  the 
peasant  had  to,  in  spite  of  all  his  opposition,  bring  in  his  youngest 
daughter.  She  appeared  in  her  rags  but  when  the  stranger  tore 
them  from  her  she  was  clothed  in  a  splendid  cloak.  The  dresses 
and  the  costly  articles  stolen  from  Helga  were  taken  away  from 
the  sisters  and  the  prince  went  forth  with  his  bride  to  his  kingdom. 

In  this  fairy  tale  there  is  hidden  a  rich  symbolism  with  the 
interpretation  of  which  we  will  busy  ourselves  later. 

I  might  mention  now  two  beautiful,  typical,  Russian  fairy 
tales  with  the  same  motive :  "  The  Frost "  and  the  "  Desert 
Story."* 

The  Frost. — Once  upon  a  time  there  was  an  old  man  and  an 
old  woman  who  had  three  daughters.  The  wife  could  not  bear 
the  oldest  for  she  was  her  stepdaughter.  She  quarreled  with  her, 
awoke  her  earlier  and  gave  her  all  the  work.  She  had  to  water 
and  feed  the  cattle,  carry  the  wood  and  the  water,  heat  the  oven 
and  mend  the  clothes.  She  had  always  to  sweep  the  cottage  and 
put  it  to  rights  before  daybreak.  The  old  woman  was  however, 
in  spite  of  this,  always  dissatisfied  and  faultfinding.  "  How  lazy 
and  disorderly,  the  broom  is  not  in  its  place,  this  and  that  are 
wrong  and  the  house  is  dirty." 

The  poor  girl  wept  and  was  silent,  she  sought  in  every  way 

*  Afanassiew,  "  Russische  Volksmarchen."  Deutsch  von  Anna  Mayer, 
Wien,  1906.    C.  W.  Stern. 


1 8  WISHFULFILLMENT  AND  SYMBOLISM   IN  FAIRY  TALES 

to  try  to  please  her  stepmother  and  to  be  helpful  to  her  daughters. 
The  daughters,  however,  acted  just  like  the  mother,  they  vexed 
Marfuschka,  quarreled  with  her  and  when  she  wept  they  were 
pleased.  They  got  up  late,  washed  in  water  that  was  all  ready 
for  them,  dried  themselves  with  clean  towels  and  did  their  first 
work  in  going  to  eat. 

So  the  daughters  grew  up  and  reached  an  age  to  marry.  The 
old  man  was  sorry  for  his  daughter ;  he  loved  her,  because  she 
was  dutiful  and  industrious :  she  was  never  wilful,  she  always 
did  what  she  was  told  without  a  word  of  objection.  He  could 
not,  however,  help  the  difficulties,  he  was  weak,  the  old  woman 
quarrelsome  and  the  daughters  lazy  and  stubborn. 

The  old  folks  considered :  he,  how  the  daughters  could  be 
married  and  she,  how  the  oldest  one  could  be  gotten  rid  of.  One 
day  the  old  woman  said  to  him :  "  Old  man,  we  will  marry 
Marfuschka." 

"Good,"  said  he,  and  went  to  bed  on  his  stove.  The  old 
woman  followed  him  and  said :  "  Get  up  early  in  the  morning, 
hitch  up  the  horse  to  the  wooden  sled  and  take  Marfuschka  along. 
You,  Marfuschka,  get  together  your  possessions  in  a  basket,  put 
on  a  clean  skirt,  for  tomorrow  you  are  going  on  a  visit." 

The  good  Marfuschka  was  rejoiced  over  her  luck  and  slept 
sweetly  all  night.  Early  in  the  morning  she  arose,  washed  her- 
self, prayed,  packed  up  everything  carefully,  and  dressed  herself. 
She  was  as  beautiful  as  a  little  bride. 

It  was  winter  and  grim  Frost  reigned.  Before  sunrise  the 
old  man  was  up,  he  hitched  up  the  horse  to  the  sled  and  drove 
to  the  front  of  the  house.  He  went  inside,  sat  down  on  the  bench 
and  said :  "  Now  I  have  everything  ready." 

"  Sit  down  at  the  table  and  eat,"  said  the  old  woman. 

The  bread  basket  stood  on  the  table  and  he  took  a  piece  of 
bread  from  it  that  he  shared  with  his  daughter.  The  stepmother 
in  the  meantime  brought  some  stale  soup  and  said :  "  Now,  little 
dear,  eat  and  away  with  you,  I  have  had  to  put  up  with  you  long 
enough!  Old  man,  lead  Marfuschka  to  her  bridegroom,  how- 
ever, look  out  on  the  way,  old  fool,  first  go  down  the  straight 
street  and  then  turn  to  the  right  into  the  woods — do  you  know, 
right  by  the  big  pine,  which  stands  on  the  hill,  there  deliver 
Marfuschka  over  to  the  Frost." 


WISH    STRUCTURE   OF   THE   FAIRY   TALE  I9 

The  old  man  opened  his  eyes  and  his  mouth,  stopped  chewing, 
and  the  girl  cried. 

"  What  are  you  making  such  a  fuss  about !  The  bridegroom 
is  beautiful  and  rich!  Only  think  how  many  possessions  he  has: 
All  the  firs  and  pines  glisten  and  the  birches  are  all  feathery. 
There  is  scarcely  a  more  magnificent  life  and  he  himself  is  a 
mighty  hero."  The  old  man  silently  gathered  all  her  belongings, 
ordered  his  daughter  to  put  on  her  sheep  skins  and  started  on 
the  way.  He  finally  came  to  the  pine,  and  turned  from  the  road 
just  as  the  snow  began  to  fall.  In  the  solitude  the  old  man 
stopped,  ordered  his  daughter  to  get  out,  set  her  basket  under  an 
immense  pine  and  said :  "  Sit  here,  await  the  bridegroom  and 
receive  him  pleasantly." 

Then  he  turned  his  horse  about  and  went  back  home.  The 
little  girl  sat  there  and  trembled,  the  cold  benumbed  her.  She 
wanted  to  cry  but  she  only  had  strength  to  shut  her  teeth  tightly 
together.  Suddenly  she  heard  in  the  distance  the  Frost  making 
a  fir  creek;  he  sprang  crackling  from  fir  to  fir.  Finally  he  was 
high  overhead  on  the  pine  under  which  the  little  girl  sat  and  he 
asked:  "Little  girl,  are  you  warm?" 

"Yes,  father  Frost!" 

The  Frost  came  down  nearer,  creeking  and  crackling  still 
more  than  before:  "Little  girl  tell  me,  beautiful  girl,  are  you 
warm  ?  " 

The  little  girl  had  almost  lost  her  breath  but  she  still  said :  "  I 
am  warm  father  Frost." 

Then  the  Frost  creeked  and  crackled  still  more:  "Are  you 
warm  little  girl,  are  you  warm  beautiful  child,  are  you  warm  my 
darling?" 

The  little  girl  was  almost  frozen  and  answered  hardly  audibly : 
"Warm,  little  father." 

Then  the  Frost  had  pity  and  wrapped  up  the  little  maid  in 
furs  and  warm  coverings. 

In  the  morning  the  old  woman  said  to  her  husband :  "  Go,  old 
fool,  and  awaken  the  young  pair." 

The  old  man  hitched  the  horse  to  the  sleigh  and  went  to  his 
daughter.  He  found  her  alive  wrapped  up  in  beautiful  furs  with 
a  silk  neckcloth  and  beautiful  presents  lay  in  her  basket.  With- 
out saying  a  word  the  old  man  put  everything  in  the  sleigh,  got 


20  WISHFULFILLMENT  AND  SYMBOLISM   IN  FAIRY  TALES 

in  with  his  daughter  and  went  back  home.  There  the  little  maid 
threw  herself  at  the  feet  of  her  stepmother. 

The  old  woman  wondered  very  much  when  she  saw  the  girl 
living  and  saw  the  new  furs  and  the  basket  full  of  linen.  "  Eh, 
you  can't  fool  me ! "  said  she. 

After  a  few  days  the  old  woman  said :  "  Take  my  daughters 
to  the  bridegroom,  he  will  give  them  still  better  presents."  In  the 
morning  the  old  woman  awoke  her  daughters,  dressed  them,  as 
if  she  were  sending  them  to  their  wedding  and  sent  them  forth. 
The  old  man  took  the  same  way  and  left  the  maids  by  the  same 
pine.  They  sat  down  and  laughed.  "What  occurred  to  mother 
to  marry  us  so  suddenly?  As  if  there  were  not  fellows  enough 
in  the  Village !  Who  knows,  what  sort  of  a  devil  comes  here !  " 
The  girls  had  great  furs  on  but  in  spite  of  that  the  cold  stung 
them. 

"  Paracha,  the  Frost  runs  over  my  skin,  if  the  chosen  one 
does  not  come  soon  we  will  freeze."  "  Nonsense  Mascha,  since 
when  do  bridegrooms  come  so  early,  it  is  only  breakfast  time." 
"  Paracha !  if  he  comes  now  who  will  he  take  ? "  "  Not  you,  you 
goose."  "  You  perhaps  ? "  "  Certainly."  "  Don't  laugh."  The 
Frost  nipped  the  maids'  hands.  They  put  their  hands  in  their 
furs  and  began  again :  "  You  sleepy  child,  you  bad  nuisance,  you 
scold.  You  cannot  spin  and  you  never  think  of  praying."  "  Oh, 
you  boaster,  what  can  you  do  then?  In  the  spinning  room  you 
hang  around  and  prattle.  Wait  and  see  who  he  takes."  So  the 
little  maids  quarreled  and  froze.  "  Why  you  are  getting  blue !  " 
said  they  together.  Far  away  the  Frost  crackled  and  snapped  and 
sprang  from  fir  to  fir.  To  the  maids  it  appeared  as  if  some  one 
was  coming.  "  Ho,  Paracha!  he  is  coming;  his  bells  are  jingling." 
"  Go  on  fool,  the  Frost  is  making  me  shake."  "  But  will  you  still 
marry?"  They  blew  on  their  fingers.  The  Frost  came  nearer 
and  nearer,  finally  he  alighted  on  the  pine  over  the  maids.  "  Are 
you  warm  little  maids,  are  you  warm  beautiful  little  doves?" 

"  Oh  Frost  it  is  so  cold.  We  are  nearly  frozen.  We  are  wait- 
ing for  the  bridegroom  and  the  devil  does  not  come." 

The  Frost  came  down  lower  and  crackled  and  snapped  still 
more:  "Are  you  warm  little  maids,  are  you  warm  my  beautiful 
ones?"  "Go  to  the  devil!  Are  you  blind,  our  hands  and  feet 
are  already  frozen  off."    Then  the  Frost  came  still  further  down. 


WISH    STRUCTURE   OF   THE   FAIRY   TALE  21 

stung  hard  and  asked:  "Little  maids  are  you  warm?"  "Go  to 
the  devil  and  rot,  cursed  one !  "  Then  the  maids  were  benumbed. 
In  the  morning  the  old  woman  said  to  her  husband :  "  Harness 
up,  put  hay  and  warm  coverings  in  the  sleigh  for  the  girls  will 
be  cold.  There  is  a  strong  wind  outside !  Be  quick  old  fool ! " 
The  old  man  hardly  allowed  himself  time  for  breakfast  and  went 
forth.  When  he  came  to  his  little  daughters  they  were  dead.  He 
put  them  in  the  sleigh,  wrapped  them  up  in  the  rugs,  laid  the  hay 
over  them  and  turned  homeward.  The  old  woman  saw  him  com- 
ing from  a  distance,  and  went  out  to  meet  him :  "  Where  are  the 
children  ?  "  "  In  the  sleigh."  The  old  woman  put  the  hay  aside, 
took  ofif  the  rugs,  and  found  the  children  dead.  Then  she  set 
upon  the  old  man  like  a  tempest  and  abused  him.  "What  have 
you  done  with  my  daughters?  You  old  hound!  My  own,  my 
sweet  buds,  my  rosy  berries !  I  will  beat  you  with  the  broom 
stick,  I  will  beat  you  with  the  poker ! "  "  Be  quiet  old  witch. 
You  tried  to  get  riches  but  your  daughters  were  obstinate.  I 
am  not  guilty,  you  did  it  yourself ! "  The  old  woman  was  angry 
and  kept  on  wrangling,  but  later  reconciled  herself  with  the  step- 
daughter and  so  lived  a  good  and  considerate  life  and  no  longer 
thought  evil.  A  neighbor  came  and  wooed  and  married  Mar- 
fuschka.  Things  went  well  with  her.  The  old  man  took  the 
grandchildren  under  his  care,  frightened  them  with  the  Frost  and 
bid  them  be  willing  and  diligent. 

"Desert  Fairy  Tale." — An  old  man  lived  with  his  wife.  He 
had  one  daughter  and  she  had  one.  His  wife  said  to  him :  "  Take 
your  daughter  away," — and  he  took  her  in  the  dark  forest.  In 
the  forest  there  stood  a  cottage  and  then  he  said  to  his  daughter : 
"  Sit  here  and  wait  while  I  go  for  a  while  and  chop  wood."  He 
left,  fastened  a  small  board  on  a  birch  before  the  cottage,  and 
went  home. 

The  maid  waited  and  waited  for  her  father  and  the  wind 
played  with  the  little  board.  "  My  little  father  is  chopping  wood," 
thought  she  and  went  on  waiting.  But  the  day  grew  into  evening. 
The  sun  set  but  her  father  did  not  come  back.  Night  came  on 
and  the  maid  was  still  waiting.  Between  the  trees  there  was  ex- 
tended, with  some  noise,  a  horse's  head. 


22  WISH  FULFILLMENT  AND  SYMBOLISM  IN  FAIRY  TALES 

The  head  ran  to  the  cottage  and  said :  "  Mistress,  mistress, 
open  the  door  !  "  The  maid  opened  it.  "  Mistress,  mistress,  carry 
me  over  the  threshold !  "  The  maid  did  it.  "  Mistress,  mistress, 
give  me  some  supper !  "  She  gave  it  some.  "  Mistress,  mistress, 
make  me  up  a  bed."  She  made  one  up.  "  Mistress,  mistress,  tell 
me  some  stories !  "  She  began  to  tell  one.  "  Mistress,  mistress, 
climb  into  my  left  ear  and  climb  out  again  by  the  right ! " 

She  climbed  into  the  left  ear  and  out  by  the  right  and  had 
become  indescribably  beautiful,  then  she  seated  herself  in  a 
golden  coach  with  silver  horses  and  started  for  her  kingdom. 
First,  however,  she  went  home  and  gave  her  father  and  mother 
all  the  treasures  of  the  world  but  to  her  sister,  the  daughter  of 
the  wife  she  gave  nothing. 

After  a  year  had  passed  the  old  man  was  speaking  with  his 
wife  when  she  commanded  him:  "Take  my  daughter  forth,  you 
know  where !  Take  her  to  the  place  to  which  you  brought  your 
daughter." 

So  the  old  man  took  her  daughter  and  led  her  into  the  dark 
forest.  In  the  forest  stood  a  cottage.  Then  he  said  to  her :  "  Sit 
here  and  wait  while  I  go  and  chop  wood."  The  little  board 
swayed  and  rattled  in  the  wind.  "What  has  the  old  turkey- 
cock  fastened  up  there?"  asked  the  maid  angrily  and  listened. 
Between  the  trees  the  horse's  head  was  noisily  stretched.  It  ran 
to  the  cottage :  "  Mistress,  mistress,  open  the  door  I  "  "  You  are 
not  a  great  man,  do  it  yourself."  It  opened  the  door.  "  Mistress, 
mistress,  carry  me  over  the  threshold !  "  "  You  are  not  a  great 
man,  come  in  yourself."  The  horse's  head  came  in.  "  Mistress, 
mistress,  give  me  some  supper! "  "You  are  not  a  great  man,  get 
it  yourself."  The  head  got  it.  "  Mistress,  mistress,  make  me  up 
a  bed  and  put  me  to  sleep."  "You  are  not  a  great  man,  do  it 
yourself."  The  head  did  it.  "  Mistress,  mistress,  climb  into 
my  left  ear  and  climb  out  again  by  the  right !  "  The  maid  climbed 
into  the  left  ear  and  climbed  out  of  the  right  and  had  become  old, 
an  old  gipsy  without  teeth,  with  a  crutch.  She  ran  into  the  woods 
and  drowned  herself  from  grief  in  the  marsh. 

There  are  in  fairy  stories  similarly  masculine  Cinderellas  that 
at  the  end  marry  a  princess. 

The  fairy  stories,  in  which  simpletons  or  imbeciles  are  affec- 


WISH    STRUCTURE   OF   THE   FAIRY   TALE  2$ 

tionately  treated  as  heroes,  belong  also  partly  in  this  category 
with  wish  fulfillment,  partly  however  to  the  so-called  farces.  I 
mention,  as  examples,  from  the  German  fairy  tales:  "The  story 
of  the  man  who  went  out  to  learn  to  shudder,"  "  Jack  in  Luck," 
"Clever  Hans,"  "Tl\e  Three  Languages"  (Grimm,  Nos.  4,  83, 
32,  33)- 


r 


CHAPTER  IV 

Symbolism 

In  order  to  gain  an  insight  into  the  meaning  of  the  symbols 
of  fairy  tales  we  must  first  learn  something  of  their  origin. 
\y^    A  symbol  is  a  sign,  a  short  cut  for  something  complex.    When 
V    I  see  a  post-horn  near  the  name  of  a  station  on  a  railway  time- 
table, it  is  clear  to  me  that  the  station  has  postal  connections 
with  places  which  are  not  on  the  line. 

The  "  Captain  of  Kopenik,"  a  shoemaker  and  habitual  crimi- 
nal, insured  himself  the  unconditional  obedience  of  a  number  of 
Prussian  soldiers  in  the  robbery  of  the  city  bank,  by  wearing  a 
captain's  uniform,  because  the  wearing  of  a  uniform,  and  espe- 
cially an  officer's  uniform,  is  a  sign  for  a  great  mass  of  things 
and  ideas,  which  it  is  not  necessary  to  recount. 

The  symbol,  however^  has  still  more  that  is  peculiar  to  it. 
Why  does  the  sign  of  tl#  post-horn  and  nothing  else,  represent 
on  the  time-table  the  idea  of  postal  connections  and  the  associated 
ideas.  The  post-horn  is  something  that  originally  belonged  to 
the  post.  Although  it  is  not  a  necessary  part  of  it,  it  was  earlier 
one  of  the  most  concrete  signs  of  it,  less  for  the  eye  than  for  the 
ear.  So  we  have  two  new  sources  of  the  symbol.  That  the  sign 
chosen  for  the  symbol  has  a  significance  in  an  inner  or  outer 
associative  relationship  and  is  concrete.  Further  it  is  so  much 
the  more  appropriate  as  history  and  development  are  included  in 
it,  whereby  it  is,  however,  not  without  variations  of  significance. 
The  times  with  us  have  pretty  well  gone  by  when  the  postillion 
lustily  blew  his  horn.  The  horn  as  a  sign,  however,  has  remained, 
on  the  time-table,  in  the  army,  as  the  sign  of  a  field  post,  and  still 
in  many  other  places. 

I  With  the  idea  of  symbol  there  is  usually  associated  something 
full  of  mystery.  Symbols  are  often  used  as  signs  of  recognition 
for  secret  societies,  for  example,  the  signs  of  the  Free  Masons. 
The  secrecy  also  lays  in  the  fact  that  only  the  initiated  know  the 
[  significance  of  the  symbols.  That,  for  example,  was  the  case 
with  the  runic  writing  which  only  certain  people  could  read ;  that 
also  gives  the  ceremonials  of  the  church  their  magical  eflfects  on 

24 


i 


SYMBOLISM  25 

the  susceptible  soul.  Already  the  development  and  the  associated 
changes  of  meaning  make  it  impossible  that  any  but  the  initiated 
should  be  able  to  understand  the  significance  of  the  symbols. 
^  Because  the  symbol  is  only  a  sign,  only  a  part  of  the  original 
significance,  so  it  is,  that  in  its  further  development,  it  gradually 
becomes  the  sign  for  different  things :  The  post-horn  has  signifi- 
cance according  to  the  place,  the  surroundings,  in  the  psycho- 
logical sense,  according  to  the  various  associations  bound  up  with 
it.  Mail  stage-coach  connections,  when  it  is  by  the  name  of  a 
station  on  the  time-table,  letter  mail  connections  when  on  a  letter 
box.  In  out  of  the  way  mountain  villages  it  signifies  still  much 
more,  and  on  the  sleeve  of  a  uniform,  again  something  different. 
Through  this  summation  of  meanings  it  comes  that  the  sigti 
is  a  condensation  and  an  accumulation  of  all  of  these  single  ideas! 
concealed  within  it.  The  characteristic  of,  for  example,  the^^ 
"dream  symbol,  is  the  thousand  threads  of  association  that  run 
together  (the  dream  of  the  portal).  It  results,  at  the  same  time, 
in  an  ambiguity  of  symbols.  The  double  meanings  can  come  out 
in  all  possible  ways.  Whoever  is  not  initiated  and  does  not  know 
all  the  directions  of  the  symbol,  interprets  it  falsely  or  only  accord- 
I  ing  to  his  own  idea.  The  bible,  for  example,  has  both  the  advan- 
<  tage  and  the  disadvantage  of  containing  many  symbols  which  may 
be  interpreted  in  the  most  varied  ways. 

The  interpretation  of  the  dream  symbol  has  to  get  its  value 
on  the  same  grounds  as  it  has  been  given  by  Freud  on  scientific  V^ 
foundations,  so  that  we  recognize  the  structure  of  the  symbol  and 
everyone  who  cares  to  can  learn  this  science. 

The  ambiguity  of  the  symbols  has  the  disadvantage  that  think- 
ing in  symbols,  that  is  resorted  to  in  dreams  and  in  many 
psychoses,  especially  in  dementia  precox,  here  often  to  an  unbe- 
lievable extent,  is  much  less  clear,  defined  and  logical  than  is 
thought  just  in  sharp,  circumscribed  ideas  having  to  the  greatest 
extent  possible  only  one  meaning.  In  this  special  sense  one  is 
quite  right,  with  Bleuler,^  Jung,^  and  Pelletier,^  in  designating 

^  Bleuler,  "  Freudsche  Mechanismen  in  der  Symptomatologie  von 
Psychosen,"  Psych.-neurol.  Wochenschrift,  1906,  No.  35  and  2/^. 

2  Jung,  "  Ueber  die  Psychologic  der  Dementia  praecox."  Halle  a.  S., 
Marhold,  1907.     See  translation  in  Monograph  Series,  No.  3. 

3  Madeleine  Pelletier,  "  L'association  des  idees  dans  la  manie  aigue  et 
dans  la  debilite  mentale."     These  de  Paris,  1903. 


c 


26  WISHFULFILLMENT  AND  SYMBOLISM   IN  FAIRY  TALES 

thinking  in  symbols  as  of  less  value,  as  inferior  to  logical  thinkingi, 
And  yet  what  difficulties  we  have  in  our  own  language  not  to 
think  in  symbols!  Is  not  nearly  every  word  a  symbol!  All  ab- 
stract ideas  must  be  expressed  by  words,  which  at  first,  and  often 
yet,  have  a  concrete  significance  (for  example,  wagen,  wiegen, 
erwagen,  gewogen;  or  gebildet  =  instructus  and  gebildet  =  ac- 
complished— in  the  sense  in  which  it  is  used  by  Goethe  =  geformt 
(formed),  for  example,  ein  wohlgebildeter  Jiingling^^a  well 
formed  youth.)  And  what  changes  in  meaning  have  they  not 
already  gone  through.*  The  language  of  poetry  prefers  to  work 
with  words  of  ambiguous  sense  in  order  to  give  both  meanings  at 
the  same  time.  It  is  not  difficult  to  bring  examples  of  symbols 
which  unite  within  themselves,  partly  or  wholly,  these  several 
qualities. 

Letters  are  symbols,  as  their  development  clearly  shows.  Our 
mimic  and  gestures  are  in  great  part  symbolic.^  A  geographical 
-chart  is  a  symbol.  The  concrete  symbols  for  abstracts  are  note- 
kvorthy.  The  eye  of  God  (omniscience),  the  scales  (justice),  the 
Icross  (Christendom;  compare  the  Vision  of  Constantine:  "  in  hoc 
signo  vinces");  the  color  symbols:  black  =  mourning;  in  the 
Catholic  church  violet  is  the  mourning  color;  red  =  love,  social- 
ism, revolution;  the  black  and  red  international;  the  military 
jsymbolism  (power,  intimidation,  diflFerences  of  authority,  belong- 
jing  to  various  countries)  ;  the  anchor  of  hope,  the  symbolism  of 
coats  of  arms  and  standards;  one  makes  a  present  of  something 
as  a  "sign  of  love";  the  "fire  of  love,"  the  pain  of  separation. 
The  language  likes  to  employ,  besides  those  just  named,  also  con- 
densed symbols.  One  hopes,  for  example,  to  feather  one's  nest. 
In  pictures  of  the  middle  ages  and  among  such  old  culture  folks, 
so  long  as  their  art  stood  at  a  more  archaic  stage  (to  stand  on  a 
step — stufe — is  again  a  symbol  of  speech)  the  relative  authority 
is  expressed  in  the  persons  represented  by  differences  in  size,  or 

*  I  refer,  for  example,  to  Hermann  Paul,  "  Prinzipien  der  Sprach- 
geschichte,"  III  Aufl.,  Halle  a.  S.,  Max  Niemeyer,  1898.  The  change  in 
meaning  can  certainly  cause  a  definite  transfer  so  that  the  original  mean- 
ing no  longer  serves  at  present.  For  instance  the  word  "  elend "  in  the 
middle  and  new  high 'German. 

°  Compare  Ernst  Jentsch,  "  Ueber  cinige  merkwiirdige  mimische  Be- 
wegungen  der  Hand,"  Zeniralbl.  fiir  Nervenheilk.  u.  Psychiatric,  XXVII 
Jahrg.,  15,  VIII. 


SYMBOLISM                                                            27  I 

among  kings  and  gods  by  a  figurative  representation  of  their  1 
attributes.     (We  find  a  beautiful  example  in  an  "Adoration"  by 
Diirer  in  the  old  Pinakothek  in  Munich.) 

Still  we  must  hasten  over  these  trains  of  thought  in  order  to  < 
utilize  what  has  been  learned  for  our  fairy  tale  symbolisms.           •  v^ 

Here  two  symbolic  series  unite  and  often  overlap ;  one  devel-  *      '^. 
ops  from  the  aspects  of  magic,  mythology,  and  religion,  the  other  |      (K^r  '1 
is  the  symbolism  of  dreams  and  of  psychopathology.     It  is  true  \       y/     > 

they  originate  from  the  same  spring,  the  human  psyche.              — '  i 

In  mythology  the  construction  of  symbols  comes  about  in  a  f^  .  i 
different    manner.     First    through   personification.     The    forces   ' 
that  influence  mankind  are  personified,  natural  phenomena  and         ^^>, 
inexplicable  inner  experiences  (dreams,  nightmare).    In  place  of    v/ 

the  real,  active  forces,  anthropomorphic  beings  are  substituted.  ': 
Whether  these  are  to  be  sought  in  the  departed  souls,  or  whether 

they  have  another  indefinite  or  later  defined  origin,  whether  they  : 

are  incarnated  in  natural  phenomena  or  are  later  thought  of  as  „ 

controlling  certain  natural  phenomena,  is  beside  the  point.    There  j 

are  very  many  stages  in  this  aspect  which  sometimes  exist  to-  ' 

gether  and  sometimes  follow  one  another.     How  far  the  analysis  ; 

of  such  structures,  such  symbolic  forms,  which,  originally  simple  j 

personifications  of  a  definite  principle,  have  come  to  form  fully  j 
built  up  personalities,  may  take  us,  is  shown,  for  example,  by  the 
history  of  the  devil.® 

A  new  factor  is  now  added  to  the  symbol.     The  personified  1 

gr  unpersonified  forces  display  some  power,  some  effect.     This    '  • 

effect  becomes  now  transferred  on  its  symbol,  on  its  figurative  j 

representation,  which  belongs  in  its  province,  and  so  the  symbol  ' 

itself  receives,  besides  its  already  named  characteristics,  a  certain  J 

force  and  effect,  which  originally  belonged  to  the  whole  which  in  j 

part  is  represented  by  the  symbol.'^    For  this  reason  the  devil  can  : 

do  nothing  as  soon  as  a  place  is  protected  by  a  cross  or  the  sign  i 

/of  the  cross.^   On  the  same  grounds  the  pictures  of  the  saints  ^ 
played  such  an  important  role  with  the  Russians  in  the  Japanese 
war  and  naturally  also  elsewhere.     So  in  the  old  cults  w*here  the 

6  Gustav  Roskoff,  "  Geschichte  des  Teufels."    Leipzig,  Brockhaus,  1869,  | 

■^  Compare  here  the  contribution  of  Prof.  S.  Singer-Bern :  Die  Wirk-  j 

samkeit   der  Besegnungen.    "  Schweiz.   Archiv.   fiir  Volkskunde,"  Jahrg. 

I,  1897,  p.  102. 


28        "WISHFULFILLMENT  AND  SYMBOLISM   IN  FAIRY  TALES 

fsymbol  of  the  gods  of  fertility,  not  simply  their  picture  but  the 
part,  part  of  the  whole,  which  represented  concretely  the  fruit- 
fulness,  the  phallus,  was  carried  around  in  order  to  bring  fertility 
to  the  fields,  and  still  more,  it  was  with  the  same  object  that  young 

j  maidens  were  struck  naked  with  a  branch,  a  living  branch,  as  a 

'  still  more  remote  symbol,  so  that  through  this  symbolic  action  the 
same  object  would  be  attained. 

~  The  cults  themselves  have  also  undergone  a  process  of  sym- 
bolization.  Instead  of  human  sacrifices,  sacrifices  of  animals  came 
gradually  to  be  ofifered,  then  the  animal  was  offered  in  some  sort 
of  imitation  (formed  of  bread  for  example).  The  Chinese,  for 
example,  began  to  ofifer  their  divinities,  instead  of  metal  coins, 
papers  representing  them.  The  archives  of  ethnology  are  filled 
with  examples,  as  the  rational  customs  represent  in  great  part 
remains  of  a  strong  symbolic  cult. 

Animals,  of  which  a  great  number  are  and  were  sacred, 
belong  to  the  symbols,  which  instead  of  a  personified  power  of 
nature  have  become  demons,  god  heads  (the  owls  of  Athens,  the 
mountain  serpents  in  the  Erechtheion) . 

r  In  the  mythological  tales  and  customs  particular  animals  may 
assume  a  quite  special  symbolic  significance,  for  example,  a  special 
sexual  significance.  At  the  feast  of  Dionysus,  in  which  also 
fertility  was  sought,  young  male  animals  were  offered  up  by 

^  preference.  Zeus  ravished  Europa  as  a  bull;  Leda  as  a  male 
swan.     He  impregnated  Danae  as  a  golden  shower  by  the  inter- 

i  vention  of  a  symbolism  which  while  not  animal  was  clearly  sexual. 

^  Animals  as  representatives  of  sexual  power  are  suitable  as 
symbols  insofar  as  that  even  in  our  speech  and  our  general  atti- 
tude the  life-preserving  principle  is  considered  as  the  animal  in 
man. 

'^L  We  are  now  arrived  at  a  point  where  we  can  understand  the 
symbolism  of  fairy  tales,  especially  the  sexual  symbolism,  so  far 
as  it  springs  from  mythology  and  magic. 

We  must  now  approach  it  from  the  other  side,  the  psycho- 
logical and  the  psychopathological. 

f  Freud  explains  in  his  "  Traumdeutung "  that  the  so-called 
dream-work  is  an  effort  towards  condensation,  in  view  of  the  rep- 
resentation of  abstract  things  appropriate  in  a  given  scene,  by 
the  substitution  of  rcpresentable   (concrete)    things;  that  simi- 


SYMBOLISM  29 

Parity,  agreement,  likeness,  are  represented  in  the  dream  in  the 
same  way  by  bringing  them  together  into  a  unity.  Are  not  these 
moments  which  necessarily  lead  to  symbolic  construction?  Then 
there  is  further  the  repression  which  compels  the  dream  to  indi- 
cate certain  things  in  other  forms,  in  a  symbolism,  which  however, 
is  only  understandable  to  the  initiated  and  which  is  hidden  from 
the  conscious  ego.  So  much  for  the  construction  of  symbols  in 
the  dream. 

The  following  dream  fragment  will  make  us  familiar  with  the 
symbolism  employed  therein,  which  in  this  case  disguises  a  strong 
sexual  theme. 

The  bridegroom  dreamt.  He  was  in  the  so-called  long  street 
of  the  town  in  which  he  had  passed  the  years  of  his  youth.  A 
forest  fire  had  broken  out.  He  hastened  with  a  certain  anguish. 
Someone  is  near  him  whom  he  does  not  see.  He  knows,  however, 
that  it  is  his  brother  who  played  a  part  in  the  fire  department  of 
their  native  city  and  indeed  in  the  company  which  guarded  the 
place.  The  dreamer  noticed  that  he  himself  was  not  in  uniform 
although  he  should  have  worn  one.  He  is  in  civilians  clothes  and 
thinks :  so  goes  it.  Instead  of  riding  breeches  (he  himself  has 
been  mounted  in  the  military)  he  wears  short  English  breeches. 
Instead  of  a  saber  he  carries  a  somewhat  different  instrument,  a 
sort  of  riding-whip  which  reminds  one,  however,  more  of  a  cow- 
hide. This  he  must  carry  raised  in  a  certain  way  before  him; 
"  so  must  the  saber  be  carried  according  to  rule  "  he  thought  in 
the  dream.  With  that  he  hastened  in  the  direction  of  the  burning 
woods :  he  passed  a  house  from  which  dismal  cries  sounded. 
There  was  probably  the  origin  of  the  fire  it  seemed  to  him  in  the 
dream. 

Whoever  has  familiarized  himself  with  dream  analysis  will 
easily  find  the  sexual  symbolism  in  this  dream. 

The  long  street  is  a  passage  in  the  female  genitals.  In  the 
same  sense  there  are,  for  example,  slanting,  upward  opening, 
roof  windows  which,  through  an  obstruction  are  with  difficulty 
accessible  (hymen).  In  a  similar  dream  there  came  down  the -^ 
steep  stairs  small,  naked,  smooth  headed  boys  from  the  school,  ! 
homunculi,  who  signified  new-born  children,  who  later  would 
manifestly  study  like  papa! 

The  stove  pipe  was  also  often  dreamt  of  in  the  same  way. 


30  WISHFULFILLMENT  AND  SYMBOLISM   IN   FAIRY  TALES 

Out  of  it  came  a  rose-red  serpent,  which  was  very  long.  Compare 
,the  Russian  fairy  tale  of  "  The  Little  Bear,"  that  will  be  men- 
tioned in  a  later  chapter.  This  last  dream  picture  is  from  a  young 
^Imother,  to  whom  tlie  time  until  the  arrival  of  the  child  seems  very 
long.  The  serpent  is  used,  as  we  will  see  later,  as  a  symbol  for 
the  male  organ  and  through  which  fruit  is  brought  forth ;  the 
long  time  is  represented  by  the  length  of  the  serpent.  The  popu- 
lar saying  is:  "At  Frau  N.'s  the  oven  has  fallen  down;"  that 
means  that  Frau  N.  has  given  birth. 

The  portal  in  the  earlier  related  dream  and  the  mouth  in  one 
to  be  related  later  belong  to  dream  symbols  to  be  similarly  inter- 
preted. 
i        In  the  forest  fire  there  are  two  components.    Forest  has  here 
Uhe  same  sexual  significance  as  the  nymph's  forest  in  Freud,*  it 
is  the  forest  on  the  so-called  mons  veneris  of  women  and  belongs 
..  with  it  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  long  passage. 

When  there  is  burning  in  a  dream  usually  the  fire  of  love 
burns;  in  the  dream,  in  the  usage  of  language,  in  figurative  repre- 
sentation (the  heart  of  Jesus  is,  in  the  church  symbolism,  almost 
always  represented  with  a  flame,  as  the  symbol  of  love,  bursting 
forth  from  it)  fire  is  closely  connected  with  love;  similarly  in 
mythology. 
{  In  the  special  case  this  significance  is  quite  transparent.  The 
brother  appears  as  a  fireman.  The  brother  represents  therefore 
the  family  of  the  dreamer,  which,  living  in  the  city  does  not  agree 
with  his  marriage,  and  how  this  will  prevent  the  fire.  With  this, 
is  also  connected,  that  the  dreamer  will  not  marry  in  the  uniform 
of  the  rigid,  confessionally  disposed  brother  (family)  but  thinks,  it 
makes  no  difference,  one  can  marry  civilly.  He  appears  from  now 
in  riding  costume.  Just  as  we  must  translate  the  fire  of  the  fire 
dream  into  love,  so  riding,  signifies  empirically,  usually  something 
sexual. 

Women  often  dream  in  similar  connection  of  horses  which 
prance  immediately  before  them  and  threaten  to  crush  them. 

The  further  analysis  of  the  trousers  will  be  passed  over  at 
this  point. 

The  dreamer  carries  a  sort  of  saber,  not  as  usual  but  in  a  posi- 

8 "  Bruchstiicke  einer  Hysterieanalyse,"  Monatsschr.  fiir  Psychiatrie 
und  Neurologic,  Bd.  XVIII,  1905,  Heft  4  and  5. 


SYMBOLISM  31 

tion  and  direction  as  becomes  the  erect  phallus.  In  the  place  of 
the  saber  succeeds  a  sort  of  cow-hide.  In  the  swiss  dialect  Hagen- 
schwanz  is  the  name  for  it  (Hagen  from  Hagi=  bull;  Schwanz 
is  a  military  and  also  a  common  designation  of  the  phallus).  The 
Hagenschwanz  is  made  from  the  phallus  of  the  bull  and  that  is 
how  it  gets  its  name.  On  account  of  its  elasticity  it  is  used  in 
place  of  a  whip  by  cattle  drivers  and  is,  besides,  a  much  feared 
means  of  punishment.  It  appears  in  this  role  in  common  par- 
lance. When  besides  in  the  dream  the  saber  is  used  to  fight  it 
has  to  do  usually  with  a  sexual  conflict,  also  besides  that  the  saber 
for  explanation  is  transformed  into  a  Hagenschwanz  and  must 
be  carried  in  place  of  an  erect  phallus  (the  saber  is  stuck  in  the 
sheath!).  So  now  the  dreamer  hastens  in  the  direction  of  the 
burning  woods. 

The  cry  from  the  house  is  exactly  like  that  which  a  short  time 
before  the  dreamer  heard  in  a  zoological  garden  as  he  was  walk- 
ing by  the  animal  cages  with  his  bride.  It  came  from  a  pair  of 
pumas  that  were  just  about  to  copulate. 

Only  through  these  symbolisms  was  it  possible  to  concentrate 
the  whole  dream,  which  was  cut  into  so  many  trains  of  thought, 
into  one  picture.  The  analysis  shows  us  repeatedly  how  manyj 
symbol  constructing  elements  exist  in  the  dream.  The  strong' 
erotic  of  the  dream  is,  however,  only  clear  to  the  initiated.  We 
see  here  horse,  bull,  saber,  cow-hide,  etc.,  namely  animals  and 
objects,  the  latter  brought  into  relation  by  derivation  or  similarity 
with  the  symbolic  representation  employed  in  the  indication  of 
symbols  of  man  as  a  sexual  being. 

We  find  similar  material,  for  example,  in  a  work  of  Jung.^ 
I  "  Hysteria  has  innumerable  symbolic  representations  that  through 
special  mechanisms  and  memories  are  always  again  being  awak- 
ened and  still  remain  hidden  to  consciousness.  Hysterical  attacks 
are  often  in  their  essential  parts  abridged,  symbolic  representa- 
tions, also  the  hysterical  physical  sym.ptoms  and  conduct. 

A  short  hysteria  analysis  will  follow  in  a  few  pages.^" 

» "  Diagnostische  Assoziationsstudien,"  VIII  Beitrag,  Journal  f.  Psy- 
chologic und  Neurologie,  Bd.  VIII,  1906,  Leipzig,  J.  A.  Barth. 

^°  In  earlier  works  I  have  given  examples  of  such  symbolism.  Com- 
pare "  Diagnostische  Assoziationsstudien,"  VII  Beitrag,  and  Psychiatrisch- 
neurologische  Wochenschrift,  1905,  No.  46. 


32  WISHFULFILLMENT  AND  SYMBOLISM   IN   FAIRY  TALES  I 

i 
Dementia  praecox,  which   represents  the  commonest  mental 
disease,  is  in  a  high  degree  manifested  in  symboUc  thinking"  and 
the  same  thing  is  seen  in  other  psychoses."  " 

Paradigms  are  mentioned  under  the  wish  structures  of  de- 
^      mentia  prsecox  and  we  will  return  to  others  in  examples  of  fairy  I 

tales. 

11  Compare  Jung,   "  Ueber   die   Psychologic   der   Dementia   praecox." 
Halle  a.  S.,  Marhold,  1907.     See  (this  series).  , 

12  Bleuler,  I.  c.  I 


CHAPTER  V 

The  Symbolism  of  the  Fairy  Tale 

In  Bec'hstein's  collection  of  fairy  tales,  illustrated  with  Rich- 
ter's  attractive  pictures,  one  of  them  that  belongs  to  the  tale  of 
"  Oda  and  the  Serpent  "  strikes  me.    The  tale  runs  as  follows : 

Once  upon  a  time  there  was  a  man  who  had  three  daughters, 
of  which  the  youngest  was  named  Oda.  Once  the  father  was 
going  to  market  and  he  asked  his  daughters  what  he  should  bring 
them.  The  oldest  asked  for  a  golden  spinning-wheel,  the  second 
for  a  golden  reel,  but 'Oda  said:  "  Bring  me  what  runs  under  your 
wagon  when  you  are  on  the  way  back."  Then  the  father  bought 
at  the  market  what  the  two  eldest  daughters  wished  for  and 
started  home;  and  behold  there  ran  a  serpent  under  the  wagon 
which  he  caught  and  brought  to  Oda.  He  threw  it  down  into  the 
wagon  and  afterwards  before  the  door  of  the  house  where  he  let 
it  lay.  When  Oda  came  out  the  serpent  began  to  speak :  "  Oda, 
dear  Oda,  can  I  not  come  in  on  the  porch?  "  "  What,"  said  Oda, 
"  my  father  has  brought  you  to  our  door  and  you  wish  to  come  up 
on  the  porch  ?  "  But  she  let  it  come  up.  Now  as  Oda  went  to 
her  room  the  serpent  cried  again :  "  Oda,  dear  Oda,  may  I  lay 
before  your  room  door  ?  "  "  Ah,  see  that,"  said  Oda,  "  my  father 
brought  you  to  the  house  door,  I  have  let  you  in  on  the  porch,  and 
now  you  wish  to  lay  before  my  room  door  ?  Well,  let  it  be  as  you 
wish !  "  Now  as  Oda  was  going  into  her  bed-room  and  opened  the 
door  of  her  room  the  serpent  cried  again :  "  Oh  Oda,  dear  Oda, 
may  I  not  come  in  your  room?"  "How,"  cried  Oda,  "has  not 
my  father  brought  you  to  the  door,  have  I  not  let  you  on  the  porch 
and  before  my  room  door,  and  now  you  wish  to  come  with  me  in 
my  room?  However  if  you  will  be  satisfied  now  come  in  but  I 
tell  you  to  lay  still."  With  that  Oda  let  the  serpent  in  and  com- 
menced to  undress.  When  she  was  about  to  get  into  bed  the 
serpent  cried  out  again :  "  Oh  Oda,  dearest  Oda,  may  I  not  get 
into  bed  with  you  ?  "  "  Now  that  is  too  much,"  cried  Oda  angrily, 
"  my  father  has  brought  you  to  the  house,  I  let  you  in  on  the 
porch,  afterwards  before  my  room  door,  afterwards  in  my  room, 

33 


f 


34  WISHFULFILLMENT  AND  SYMBOLISM   IN   FAIRY  TALES 

now  you  want  to  get  into  bed  with  me.  However,  you  are  prob- 
ably frozen.  So  come  in  with  me  and  get  warm  you  poor  worm !  " 
And  then  the  good  Oda  stretched  out  her  soft  warm  hand  and 
lifted  the  cold  serpent  into  her  bed. 

Into  the  bargain  now  the  serpent  changed  into  a  young  prince 
who  in  this  manner  was  freed  from  the  magic  spell ;  and  he  took 
the  good  Oda  to  wife. 

The  sexual  symbolism  of  this  tale,  the  single  phases  of  the 
seduction,  the  change  of  disgust  into  affection,  are  so  transparent, 
that  explanation  is  unnecessary,  and  the  transformation  at  the 
critical  moment  makes  any  such  wholly  superfluous, 
ijr''^  The  serpent  is  here  the  prince,  in  the  language  of  fairy  tales 
i  •  that  signifies  the  wished-for  man.  The  symbol  is  by  no  means, 
I  however,  accidental.  As  in  magic  and  fairy-tale  symbolism  the 
'  part  (for  example  the  charm)  almost  always  stands  in  place  of 
the  whole;  that  is  protects  from  the  bewitched  or  from  magic, 
or  calls  forth  magic,  so  is  also  the  serpent  a  part  of  the  man, 
namely  the  phallus.  In  the  story  of  Oda  this  substitution  is  ap- 
parent. One  has  the  feeling  in  reading  it  it  might  just  as  well 
have  been  the  relation  of  a  dream  which  a  patient  with  hysteria 
or  dementia  prsecox  had  had.^  Indeed  we  meet  the  serpent  there 
with  absolutely  identical  significance  and  in  dementia  przecox  also 
in  other  pictures  which  are  of  dream-like  construction,  for  ex- 
ample, in  delusions,  hallucinations,  wish  deliria,  etc.  There  are 
snakes  which  creep  into  the  genitals  or  bite  near  them.  They  are 
cold,  disgusting  (as  with  Oda),  they  have  the  same  tendency  to 
produce  terror,  and  a  feeling  of  uneasiness  that  so  often  adheres 
to  the  anticipation  of  the  sexual.  Snake  dreams  are  very  common 
with  hysterical  women  and  can  almost  always  be  traced  to  this 
signification. 

It  must  be  pointed  out,  with  the  exception  of  what  has  already 
been  said,  what  the  serpent  means  as  a  sexual  symbol.  That  it  has 
a  very  great  significance  in  mythology,  in  race  psycholog}%  in  fairy 
tales,  and  in  psychopathology.  Stoll  mentions  the  importance  of 
the  serpent  in  the  popular  belief  of  the  cause  of  the  miracle  of 
Moses  ("Suggestion  und  Hypnotismus,"  p.  214,  II  Auflage;  the 

1  See  the  "  little  green  serpent "  in  Jung,  the  "  Psychologic  der  De- 
mentia praecox."    Halle  a.  S.,  Carl  Marhold,  1907.     Monograph  Series  No.  3. 


SYMBOLISM    OF   THE    FAIRY   TALE  35 

brazen  serpent).    Mention  is  also  made  of  the  serpent  miracle  of 
Moses  (2.  B.  Mos.,  Kap.  IV  u.  VII). 

After  Moses  has  seen  the  Lord  in  a  vision  (Chapt.  Ill)  and 
been  called  by  him  to  be  the  Savior  of  Israel,^  he  desired  a  miracle 
from  him,  so  that  the  people  might  believe  in  the  vision  of  the 
burning  bush  and  that  he  was  chosen.  God  makes  his  staff  change 
into  a  serpent;  Aaron  repeats  this  miracle  before  Pharaoh;  we  see 
also  the  Egyptian  magician  do  it.  The  staff  of  Aaron  twists  about 
the  staff  of  the  Egyptian.  Shall  we  not  think  here  of  a  dream-like 
erotic  symbolism  when  it  borders  upon  the  previous  vision  of  the 
burning  bush  that  itself  moves  upon  dream-like  ground?  The 
staff  becomes  a  serpent;  that  is  the  miracle;  and  the  Israelitish 
serpent  twists  about  the  Egyptian ;  does  not  that  mean  that  Israel's 
men  will  vanquish  the  Egyptians  ? 

We  learn  from  Stending^  of  the  serpent  especially  as  the  soul 
animal,  that  is,  the  animal  into  which  the  soul  is  transformed  after 
its  separation  from  the  body  by  death.  Erechtheus  (later  Erich- 
thonios,  another  name  for  Poseidon)  of  Athens  was  taken  from 
his  mother,  the  earth,  and  given  over  to  his  false  sisters  Aglauros, 
Herse,  and  Pandrosos  to  care  for,  who,  at  the  sight  of  the  serpent- 
like child,  were  seized  with  frenzy  and  threw  themselves  down 
from  the  castle  cliff.  Later  this  God  was  seen  incarnated  in  the 
temple  serpent  maintained  in  the  Erechtheion  (according  to 
Stending  a  proof  that,  originally  residing  in  the  depths  of  the 
earth,  it  was  as  well  the  God  causing  the  fruitfulness  of  the  land 
and  also  death). 

From  the  same  source  I  take  the  following  about  the  orgies 
of  the  Mainades  of  the  Dionysius  cult.  The  wild  round  dance, 
the  shaking  of  the  head,  the  shouting  and  the  deafening  music  of 
the  flutes  brings  forth  by  night  time  in  passionate  stimulation 

2  A  teleological  hallucination :  like  that  which  we  meet  commonly  as 
the  deciding  point  in  the  lives  of  great  and  small  religious  minds;  it  marks 
a  moment  from  which  they  live  wholly  according  to  their  ideal.  One  thinks 
of  the  conversion  and  the  call  of  Paul;  of  the  vision  of  the  holy  Francis 
of  Assisi;  of  Goethe's  beautiful  soul,  Susanna  von  Klettenberg,  who,  as 
the  conclusion  of  her  oscillation  between  heavenly  and  earthly  love  felt  in 
a  vision — not  as  before,  God  in  general — but  specifically  the  attraction  of 
the  man  Christ  in  the  body.  Here  the  union  with  the  definite  object  of 
love  is  very  clear.  In  certain  sects  the  producing  of  such  "conversions" 
is  frankly  strived  for. 

3  "  Griech.  und  rom.  Mythologie."    Leipzig,  Goschen,  1905. 


36  WISHFULFILLMENT  AND  SYMBOLISM   IN   FAIRY  TALES 

crowds  of  women  carrying  torches  in  the  mountain  forests,  who 
in  connection  with  the  use  of  intoxicating  drinks  are  thrown 
into  convulsions  in  which  they  beheve  themselves  united  with 
the  god.  (See  also  Stoll,  II.  ed.,  p.  317.)  Their  souls  seem  to 
leave  their  bodies  and  to  mix  with  the  spirit  hosts  of  the  god,  or 
they  think,  that  the  god  himself  enters  into  their  bodies  so  that 
they  are  full  of  the  god. 

To  the  god  Dionysius  as  to  the  soul  itself  is  ascribed  a  serpent 
form.  In  order  to  be  able  to  take  him  into  themselves,  his  wor- 
shippers therefore  tore  and  devoured  snakes  or,  according  to 
the  old  belief,  other  young  animals  consecrated  to  him  and  repre- 
senting him  as  bull  calves  and  rams,  and  in  the  earliest  times  prob- 
ably also  children,  and  drank  the  blood  as  being  the  bearer  of  life, 
and  clothed  themselves  in  the  fresh  pelts.  In  this  way  they 
called  upon  God  with  loud  voices  that  he  would  grant  them  fruit- 
fulness  in  the  new  year. 

The  small  Dionysia  held  in  the  country  and  in  Athens  itself, 
the  Anthesterins  (fiower  feasts),  have  the  same  meaning;  they 
represent  the  symbolic  marriage  of  the  god  with  the  queen  repre- 
senting the  country,  who,  at  the  time  of  the  republic,  was  repre- 
sented by  the  wife  of  the  Archon  of  Basilea. 

The  serpent  is  also  the  attribute  of  heroes.  In  the  Roman 
mythology  there  are  related  to  the  spiritual  beings  (manes, 
lemures,  larvae),  spirit-like  creatures,  the  genii,  the  representatives 
of  the  life  and  procreative  powers  of  man,  and  the  corresponding 
junones  for  women.  At  birth  they  enter  into  men,  at  death  they 
leave,  and  like  the  souls  of  the  dead  the  spirits  are  represented  in 
the  form  of  a  serpent. 

It  may  be  that  serpents  and  also  dragons  (both  ideas  often 
overlap  in  mythology  and  fairy  tales)  have  a  broader  significance 
in  these  territories  than  at  first  sight  would  appear,  certain  it  is, 
that  they  very  often  have  a  sexual  meaning  or  a  meaning  closely 
associated  with  the  sexual,  and  that  that  is  the  original  meaning. 
That  is  shown  by  the  above  mythological  digression.  In  fairy 
tales  the  ideas  of  dragon,  serpent,  giant,  devil,  monster  are  often 
used  promiscuously.    They  commonly  play  the  same  role.* 

■*  In  Bernhard  Schmidt  ("Das  Volksleben  der  Neugriechen  und  das 
hellenische  Altertum,"  i  Teil,  Leipzig,  B.  G.  Teubner,  1871,  pp.  186-7,  note 
i)  there  is  an  intimation  as  to  the  masculine  sexual  root  of  the  serpent 


SYMBOLISM    OF   THE    FAIRY   TALE  37 

If,  however,  perhaps  in  fairy  tales  that  are  full  of  mytholog- 
ical reminiscences  and  fragments,  this  supposition  is  permissible, 
so  probably  in  present-day  psychopathology  the  old  mythology  is 
less  responsible  than  the  similarity  with  the  male  genitals,  with 
the  appearance  of  the  serpent  as  a  sexual  symbol  (both  symbolic 
series  have  a  common  origin).  An  hysterical  patient,  who,  for 
example,  in  a  dream  was  bitten  in  the  mouth  (instead  of  the 
genitals)  by  a  serpent,  had  no  such  mythological  knowledge.  The 
example  will  be  further  referred  to  later. 

**  It  is  similar  with  other  elements  in  the  fairy  tale.  In  the 
sexual  dreams  of  the  mentally  disordered,  for  example,  we  know 
jthe  magic  wand,  the  divining  rod  in  sexual  symbolic  meaning. 
In  fairy  tales,  however,  the  significance  of  these  objects  may  be 
displaced,  and  so  not  even'  fairy  tale  serpent  is  a  sexual  symbol.^ 
We  have,  however,  instances  of  fairy  tales  in  mind  in  which  the 
imythological  series  meets  and  crosses  with  that  from  dreams  and 
jpsychopathology. 

^     From  the  different  collections  which  I  know  well  I  will  select 
a  series  of  examples  of  the  sexual  symbolism  of  fairy  tales. 

The  Frog  King  (Grimm,  No.  i). — The  princess  lost  her 
golden  ball  which  fell  into  the  water.  The  frog,  who  came  out  of 
the  water,  promised  to  bring  it  back  to  her.  As  a  reward,  how- 
ever, he  will  have  neither  the  clothes,  pearls,  precious  stones  or 
crown ;  but  the  princess  must  promise  to  love  him ;  he  wished  to 
become  her  chum  and  playmate,  sit  by  her  at  her  little  table,  eat 
from  her  little  gold  plate,  drink  from  her  little  cup,  and  sleep  in 
her  little  bed.  She  promised  and  he  got  the  ball ;  when,  however, 
the  princess  did  not  keep  her  promise  the  frog,  the  following 
day,  hopped  to  the  palace  and  asked  the  princess,  who  felt  fear 
and  disgust  of  him,  to  keep  her  promise.  He  made  then,  one  after 
another,  requests  similar  to  those  made  by  the  snake  in  the  story 
of  Oda.  Perhaps  here  the  eating  together  is  also  a  sexual  sym- 
bolism (perhaps  also  the  ball?).  The  princess  was  afraid  to 
sleep  in  her  little  bed  with  the  cold  frog  which  she  hardly  trusted 
herself  to  touch.  Because  she  was  commanded  by  her  father  she 
picked  up  the  frog  by  two  fingers,  carried  it  upstairs  and  put  it 
in  a  corner.    When  she  was  in  bed  the  frog  asked  to  be  lifted  up 

worshipped  as  a  good  house  spirit:  If  the  whole  male  branch  dies  out  in  a 
house  then  the  house  serpent  has  forsaken  the  house  forever. 


38  WISHFULFILLMENT  AND  SYMBOLISM   IN  FAIRY  TALES 

into  bed  with  her.  Then  the  princess  became  very  angry,  took 
him  up  and  flung  him  with  all  her  strength  against  the  wall.  What 
fell  down,  however,  was  not  a  frog,  but  a  prince  who  became  her 
beloved  spouse. 

r"    The  similarity  with  "  Oda  "  is  very  great,  only  that  Oda  after 

nrst  being  angry  picked  up  the  serpent  in  love  and  took  it  up 

to  herself.    The  moment  of  the  going  over  of  the  sexual  disgust 

to  love  is  somewhat  displaced.     Quite  clearly,  still  more  so  than 

ff\         with  Oda,  is  represented  the  original  sexual  aversion  and  prudery 

of  the  maiden,  the  uneasiness  and  shyness  before  the  crude  sexual, 

the  penis.    That  there  is  already  a  sexual  wish  present  we  know. 

/  The  form  of  the  wished-for  prince   (serpent,  frog,  bear,  etc.) 

/      supports  a  new  determination.     It  represents  the  sexual  uneasi- 

1         ness,  disgust.     Instead  of  the  tale  describing  the  change  in  the 

^v\        heroine  it  projects  it  upon  the  wish  object.    It  becomes  agreeable 

\     to  the  heroine,  so  a  change  appears,  from  the  disagreeable  to  an 

\  agreeable    form,    from   the   disgusting  beast   into   the   beautiful 

prince. 

The  wicked  action  of  the  sexual  rival,  who  has  caused  the 
change,  and  this  well-known  psychological  process  are  here  repre- 
sented condensed. 

The  frog  as  a  "  little  man  "  we  often  meet  in  our  case  histories 
as  well  as  in  the  associations  in  researches  with  normal  and 
hysterical  women,  where  the  .Bo-called  "  failures,"  long  reaction 
times  and  other  "complex  indicators"  appear,^  I  refer  to  such 
an  example  in  an  earlier  work.** 

In  the  beginning  of  the  fairy  tale  "  The  Sleeping  Beauty  "  a 
frog  appears  (Grimm,  No.  50,  Bechstein,  p.  223). 

In  olden  times  there  was  a  king  and  queen  who  said  every 
day:  "Oh,  if  we  only  had  a  child!"  but  no  child  came.  Then  it 
happened  that  once  when  the  queen  was  in  her  bath  a  frog  hopped 
out  of  the  water  and  said:  "Your  wish  will  be  fulfilled;  before  a 
year  goes  by  you  will  bring  a  daughter  into  the  world !  "  What 
the  frog  prophesied  came  to  pass  and  the  queen  bore  a  daughter 
that  was  beautiful  beyond  compare. 

If  the  significance  of  the  frog  does  not  appear  so  evident  here 

5  "  Diagnostische  Assoziationsstudicn,"  edited  by  C.  G.  Jung,  Leipzig, 
J.  A.  Barth. 

^  "  Diagnostische  Assoziationsstudicn,'*  VII  Beitrag,  p.  246. 


SYMBOLISM    OF   THE   FAIRY   TALE  39 

as  in  the  "  Frog  King,"  it  will,  however,  be  perfectly  clear  if  we 
compare  this  example  with  later  ones,  especially  those  with 
Freudian  transpositions  (Verlegung).  Again  and  again  impreg- 
nation is  represented  in  childless  people  in  symbolic  form  (here 
the  frog  is  the  symbol  of  fertilization),  and  the  child  originating 
therefrom  has  a  fate  of  projected  significance. 

The  tale  brings  thus,  among  the  applications  of  the  magic  and 
transformation  technic  undertaken  by  it,  first  the  symbol,  in  order 
to  represent  the  sexual  story  and  establish  in  the  given  moment 
the  whole  as  represented  by  the  symbol. 

The  Tale  of  "  The  Little  Hazel  Branch"  (Bechstein,  p.  40). — 
A  merchant  has  to  make  a  journey  and  wishes  to  bring  back  a 
present  for  his  three  daughters.  (Compare  "  Oda  and  the 
Serpent.")  The  first  wanted  a  pearl  necklace,  the  second  a  dia- 
mond ring,  the  third  whispered  her  wish  for  a  beautiful,  green, 
.  little  hazel  twig.  On  the  way  home  he  had  great  difficulty  to  find 
one.  Finally  he  accidently  discovered  a  beautiful,  green,  little 
branch  with  golden  nuts.  As  he  broke  it  off,  a  bear,  to  whom  the 
branch  belonged,  rushed  out  of  the  thicket.  He  surrendered  it 
to  him ;  the  merchant  had  to  promise  the  bear,  however,  to  give 
him  that  which  he  first  met  on  the  way  home.  Naturally  this  was 
the  youngest  daughter.  The  bear  came,  after  a  little  while,  with 
a  wagon  to  take  her  away.  When  he  returned  to  the  forest  he 
asked  her  to  caress  him,  noticed  her  manner,  that  it  was  only 
that  of  a  substitute  peasant  maiden  and  instantly  went  for  the 
right  youngest  daughter  of  the  merchant.  The  bear  took  his 
bride  to  a  cave  with  horrible  dragons  and  serpents,  and  by  not 
looking  about  her  she  breaks  the  enchantment  and  the  bear 
becomes  a  prince,  the  owner  of  a  beautiful  palace  and  the  liber- 
'^ted  monsters  are  his  followers.  The  bear  is  thus  the  prince,  to 
pim  belongs  the  fruit-bearing  little  hazel  branch  that  is  here  the 
special  sexual  symbol.  The  disenchantment  explains  the  relation 
only  that  therein  the  little  branch  is  no  longer  mentioned.  The 
analogy  with  Oda  and  the  serpent  is  quite  transparent.  The  idea 
of  the  magic  cave  is  naturally  assisted  by  the  mythological  view 
of  the  (chthonischen)  divinities  dwelling  in  the  ground  and  in 
the  mountains,  and  perhaps  the  bear  is  a  prince  who  has  died  and 
the  fearful  animals,  his  followers,  who  are  freed  from  magic  or 
death.     The  little  hazel  branch  to  be  sure  fits  only  half  way  into 


40  WISH  FULFILLMENT  AND  SYMBOLISM   IN  FAIRY  TALES 

this  symbolic  series  while  it  has  its  own  special  sense  and  place 
in  dream-like  sexual  symbolism.  / 

(Nuts  are  northern  symbols  of  fruitfulness  and  are  distin- 
guished as  such  ornament  on  the  Christmas  tree.  I  have  met 
them  also  with  quite  the  same  significance  in  a  dream  of  a  patient 
with  mental  disease.  The  following  example  illustrates  the  twig 
as  a  masculine  sexual  symbol. 

Hoffmann-Krayer^  relates  of  the  shrove-tide  customs  in 
Switzerland:  "In  general  these  (Shrove-tide  customs)  are  still 
marked  by  sexual  excesses,  that  originally  probably  proceeded 
from  a  symbolic  act,  which  in  the  spring,  similar  to  the  awaking 
of  the  nature  spirit  of  the  plant  world  through  different  kinds  of 
ceremonials,  should  bring  about  human  fruitfulness.^  The  whip- 
ping of  women  or  virgins  with  a  twig  or  a  bush,  was  a  common 
action  in  all  of  these  customs." 

The  author  cites  the  following  passage  from  the  "  Fast  of 
Montanus"  (Carmelite  monk  in  Mantua,  1448-1516). 

And  with  long  straps,  cut  from  odoriferous  goatskin 

They  lashed  the  palms  of  j'oung  women,  whom  by  such  beating 

Pleasing  the  god,  they  believed  to  assist  in  childbirth. 

Mannhardt  brings  more  material  (Der  Baumkultus,  1875, 
p.  251).  He  calls  this  the  "stroke  with  the  branch  of  life." 
Besides  there  may  be  connected  with  these  views  the  present-day 
custom  of  holding  a  wedding  in  shrove-tide. 

The  author  relates  further  of  the  widespread  similar  custom 

of  single  women  sitting  on  the  plough  to  be  drawn  about  and  of 

the   so-called    "  Giritzenmoos "   excursion.      The   old    maids,    in 

person  or  as  dummies,  are  taken  to  a  moor    (Torfmoos)    for 

punishment  of  their  sterility,  where  they  must  live  transformed 

into  plovers    (Giritze),   which  at  this  time  are   found   in   those 

regions.    In  several  other  articles  in  the  same  archives  attention 

is  drawn  to  the  relation  of  this  custom  to  the  Danae  saga. 

T     "  In  the  Frick  valley  (Switzerland)  following  a  wedding  cele- 

Ibration  wine  is  poured  in  the  lap  of  the  maidens  probably  as  a 

jpromise  of  fruitfulness." 

^  "  Fastnachtsgebrauche  in  der  Schweiz."  Scliwei::cr  Archiv  fiir  Volks- 
kunde,  I  Jhrg.,  1897,  p.  126,  u.  speziell,  p.  133  ff. 

*I  am  reminded  of  the  j)iiallus  in  Greece  and  the  lingam  in  India. 


SYMBOLISM    OF   THE    FAIRY   TALE  4I 

In  the  same  archives  we  read  of  May  sports  (p.  153). 
"  Opposite  the  room  window  of  the  old  maids  a  large  straw  man 
is  hung  up  named  '  Maia-Ma '  [May  man].  Many  old  maids  had 
to  be  satisfied  with  fool  branches  "  (Narrenasten)  (Zindel,  "  Folk 
Customs  in  Sargan  and  Surroundings").  The  male  organ  of 
copulation  was  besides  often  called  "rod"  [verge  in  French], 
f"  It  may  be  added  that  the  branch,  like  other  objects:  magic 
mand,  the  stalk  of  life,  pistols,  syringes,  rays  of  from  ten  to 
fifteen  centimeters  long,  the  raised  finger,  play  a  role  of  abso- 
lutely like  significance  in  the  sexual  symbolism  of  the  mentally 
■diseased. 

The  German  Cinderella. — In  the  German  Cinderella,  that  we 
have  denominated  as  the  type  of  wish-fulfilling  fairy  tales  analo- 
gous to  the  dream,  we  come  across  at  the  beginning  a  similar 
symbolic  motive  to  that  of  the  "  Little  Hazel  Branch." 

Cinderella  had  a  stepmother  who  neglected  her  in  favor  of 
her  own  two  children  in  the  usual  way.  The  father  once  went 
to  the  fair  and  promised  all  three  daughters  to  bring  something 
back  for  them.  The  stepdaughters  wished  for  beautiful  clothes, 
pearls  and  precious  stones  but  Cinderella  begged  him  to  break 
off  for  her  the  first  branch  that  hit  his  hat  on  the  way  home 
(compare  "Oda"  and  "The  Little  Hazel  Branch").  This  was 
a  hazel  branch.  Cinderella  took  it  to  her  mother's  grave,  planted 
it  there  and  watered  it  with  her  tears.  Instead  of  directly  be- 
coming a  fairy  prince  like  Oda's  serpent  or  the  bear  in  the  "  Little 
Hazel  Branch,"  the  branch  grows  into  a  wish-tree  from  which 
the  maiden  receives  everything,  the  most  beautiful  gold  and  silver 
clothes  and  little  golden  slippers  in  order  to  please  the  prince  and 
with  the  help  of  which  she  finally  makes  the  wish-prince  her 
husband. 

The  Singing,  Jumping  Lark  (Grimm). — A  man  was  going  to 
make  a  long  journey  and  wished  to  bring  back  presents  for  his 
three  daughters.  The  youngest  desired,  in  this  fairy  tale,  a  sing- 
ing, springing  lark  (Loweneckerchen  =  Lerche  =  lark).  Finally, 
on  the  way  home,  after  a  long  search,  he  sees  one  seated  in  a 
tree,  and  tells  his  servant  to  get  it  for  him. 

A  lion  (Loweneckerchen  =  Lowe  =  lion)  springs  out  (such 
a  play  upon  words  one  might  meet  in  a  dream  or  in  dementia 
prascox ;  children's  songs  and  rhymes  do  the  same)  and  threatens 


\ 


42  WISHFULFILLMENT  AND  SYMBOLISM  IN  FAIRY  TALES 

to  eat  the  merchant  for  trying  to  steal  from  him  his  singing, 
jumping  lark, 

(A  physician  used  to  say  to  a  patient  with  a  sexual  disease, 
"Here  you  are  with  your  little  bird  (Vogelein),  why  don't  you 
let  it  out!"  In  the 'dialect  of  our  region  the  penis  is  the  bill, 
beak  (der  "  Schnabel,"  das  "  Schnabeli  ").  "  Vogeln  "  is  the 
vulgar  expression  for  coitus.  I  must  return  to  these  slang  ex- 
pressions in  order  to  support  the  inductive  arguments  entered 
upon.) 

Nothing  can  save  him  unless  he  promises  to  give  to  the  lion 
what  he  first  meets  on  his  return  home  :  "  if  you  will  do  that,  how- 
ever, then  I  will  give  you  your  life  and  also  the  bird  for  your 
daughter."  The  story  then  goes  on  as  in  the  "  Little  Hazel 
Branch."  The  lion  is  afflicted,  however,  with  a  different  spell. 
At  night  he  is  a  prince  in  human  form,  during  the  day  time,  how- 
ever, he  is  bewitched  and  is  a  lion.  At  night  the  wedding  is 
celebrated  and  during  the  day  they  sleep. 

Mythology  gives  us  some  information  about  the  spell  that  lay 
upon  the  lion. 

"  There  is  a  universal  belief,  and  a  cult  bound  up  with  it,  of 
the  separate  existence  of  the  soul  when  it  has  left  the  body  after 
death.  Two  phenomena  of  human  life  have  occasioned  this 
belief:  the  dream  and  death.  Sleep  and  death  exist  in  the  ideas 
of  most  peoples  as  like  processes  and  are  therefore  treated  in 
poetry  as  brothers.  While,  however,  after  sleep,  life  returns, 
nothing  is  perceived  of  this  return  after  death.  Therefore  they 
must  be  constant  attendants  of  the  body,  the  Fylgia  (followers), 
as  the  old  Germans  call  them,  which  abide  somewhere  else,  and 
so  arises  the  idea  of  spirits  in  nature,  of  the  spiritual  realm.  To 
this  knowledge  of  his  double  being  man  can  only  attain  through 
his  dreams :  in  them  he  learns  of  the  existence  of  the  second  ego. 
The  dream-life  also  explains  in  the  simplest  manner  the  forces 
which  are  ascribed  to  the  liberated  soul :  the  gift  to  view  strange 
places  and  distant  times  and  to  assume  all  sorts  of  forms. 
Through  dreams  man  learns,  according  to  general  Germanic  be- 
liefs, his  future.  The  dreamer  sees  many  things  in  his  sleep :  the 
soul  has  left  his  body,  tarried  in  secret  and  distant  places,  had  inter- 
course with  dead  persons,  taken  all  sorts  of  animal  forms."' 

8  Mogk,  "  Germanische  Mythologie."     Goschcn,  Leipzig,  1906. 


SYMBOLISM    OF   THE   FAIRY   TALE  43 

The  soul  usually  slips  out  of  the  sleeper  in  the  form  of  a  small 
animal  when  it  goes  on  these  dream  journeys.  He  must  not  dis- 
turb it  in  this  position  for  it  would  not  be  able  to  find  its  way 
back  and  then  he  would  die. 

With  the  idea  of  the  dream-soul  goes  along  also  that  of  night- 
mare (Druckgeitser?). 

"  Out  of  the  belief  in  the  dream  soul  has  grown  the  convic- 
tion that  certain  men  possess  the  power  to  separate  their  souls 
from  their  bodies  and  take  other  forms." 

"  In  the  form  of  dangerous  animals  (wolf,  bear,  dragon)  such 
men  bring  harm  to  others;  therefore  it  is  strongly  punished  by 
law.  Here  belong  the  witches  and  Volven  "  (volu  =  magic  wand, 
volvur  =  sorceress).  "They  make  bad  weather,  make  men  and 
beasts  sick,  are  able  to  transfix  people  to  a  spot,  and  can  take  all 
possible  animal  forms." 

In  fairy  stories  they  can,  in  the  same  way,  wish  men  into 
other  forms. 

"  In  the  belief  on  the  changeableness  of  the  human  soul  took 
root  further  the  belief,  widely  spread  over  Germanic  territory,  of 
the  werwolf  (man  wolf),  that  is  a  man  who  is  able  to  take  the 
form  of  a  wolf."  In  fairy  tales  such  werwolfs  are  sometimes 
enchanted  men  who  only  at  special  times  can  lay  off  the  wolf 
skin.i" 

The  lion  in  the  "  Singing,  Jumping  Lark  "  stands  also  as  the 
hero,  in  a  number  of  other  similar  tales,  under  such  a  curse.  In 
this  kind  of  tale  the  prince  or  the  princess  is  in  the  beginning 
under  a  hostile  power  and  the  wish-fulfillment  consists  in  the 
desire  to  avoid  this  influence  in  order  to  be  united  with  the  heroine 
of  the  story  whom  we  have  substituted  in  the  wish-dream  with  the 
figure  of  the  dreamer. 

In  the  "  Singing,  Jumping  Lark "  the  second  part,  which  we 
did  not  follow  above,  deals  with  this  theme. 

The  utilized  mythological  material  indicates  a  new  root  out 
of  which  has  developed  the  symbolism  of  the  fairy  stories  in  so 
far  as  it  is  mythological.    It  is  the  dream  symbolism  itself  with 

1°  Mogk,  I.  C.  The  night-mare  root  of  mythology  calls  for  special 
treatment.  The  "  Traumdeutung "  appeared  first  in  1900.  Laistner's 
"  Ratsel  des  Sphinx"  (Berlin,  W.  Hertz,  i88g)  unfortunately  is  based  on 
a  not  very  complete  knowledge  of  the  dream. 


/; 


44  WISHFULFILLMENT  AND  SYMBOLISM   IN   FAIRY  TALES 

the  views  developed  therefrom  by  the  dream  observer,  prim- 
itive man. 

This  knowledge  is  a  great  support  for  us ;  we  are  no  longer 
surprised  to  find  the  dream,  the  fairy  tale,  and  the  symbolism  of 
the  psychoses  all  so  related. 

Several  Icelandic  fairy  stories  have  motives  quite  like  that  of 
the  "  Singing,  Jumping  Lark,"  for  example :  "  The  Prince  Be- 
witched into  a  Dog"  (Rittershaus,  "  Neuislandische  Volks- 
marchen  "). 

The  Broivn  Dog  (first  variant  of  this  tale). — A  king  had  four 
daughters  of  which  the  youngest  was  the  favorite  of  the  father. 
Once  while  hunting  he  lost  his  way  (so  commonly  begins  the 
entrance  to  the  sphere  of  sorcery).  He  came  upon  a  small  house, 
in  which  there  was  only  a  reddish  brown  dog.  He  and  his  horse 
found  good  shelter.  After  he  had  left  the  house  the  next  day  the 
dog  stopped  him  on  the  way  and  took  him  to  task  as  ungrateful 
for  not  having  expressed  thanks  for  the  hospitality.  The  king 
then  had  to  promise  him  the  first  thing  that  he  met  when  he 
returned  home ;  it  was  his  youngest  daughter ;  the  rest  of  it  goes 
on  as  in  the  tale  of  the  Singing,  Jumping  Lark.  The  husband 
of  the  daughter  who  had  taken  her  away  as  a  dog,  sleeps  with 
her  at  night  as  a  man  in  her  bed.  Further  she  must  bring  a  lot 
of  proofs  of  obedience  and  faithfulness;  the  children  were  first 
taken  away  from  her.  Then  she  permits  herself  unfortunately 
to  be  persuaded  to  relate  the  secret  of  her  marriage  to  her  mother, 
who  advises  her  to  hold  a  light  in  the  sleeper's  face  so  that  she 
can  at  least  see  it  once.  (One  compares  the  corresponding  act 
of  Psyche  in  "  Amor  and  Psyche  "  by  Apuleius.  The  light  serves 
thus  to  discover  sexual  secrets!)  He  awakes  saddened;  for  he 
could  otherwise  have  been  delivered  after  a  month ;  now,  how- 
ever, he  has  fallen  into  the  power  of  his  fiendish  stepmother,  who 
has  cast  the  spell  upon  him,  and  must  probably  marry  her 
daughter.  Then  he  gives  advice,  how  help  may  yet  come  through 
his  bewitched  kinsmen,  and  disappeared. 

She  follows  his  advice,  arrives  at  the  right  time  at  the  impend- 
ing marriage  of  her  husband  with  the  daugliter  of  the  sorceress, 
obtains  for  her  magic  jewels,  wliioh  she  wanted,  permission  to 
sleep  alternate  nights  with  the  bridegroom.  He  was  given  a 
sleeping  potion,  however,  each  time  by  the  witch  bride.     His 


SYMBOLISM    OF   THE    FAIRY   TALE  45 

neighbors  called  his  attention  to  what  was  going  on  and  he  only- 
feigned  to  drink  this  potion  on  the  third  evening,  and  at  night,  a 
as  he  hears  the  moans  and  story  of  suffering  of  his  true  bride 
lying  near  him,  his  memory  returns  to  him,  he  is  delivered,  and 
the  witch's  power  is  broken. 

This  tale,  whose  single  motive  in  similar  connection  often 
recurs,  shows  us  again,  that  the  spell  was  cast  on  the  hero  by  a 
hostile  power,  the  reason  being  that  he  was  to  marry  a  rival  of  the 
heroine  (i.  e.,  in  the  dream  of  the  dreamer)  and  was  unwilling  to 
do  so.  That  compares  well  with  the  delusions  of  certain  patients, 
that  their  loved  one  is  misled  by  others  and  taken  away  from  them. 
The  sexual  rivals  in  the  fairy  tales  are  usually  sorcerers  and 
witches,  who  at  the  conclusion,  through  the  wish-fulfillment  of  the 
fairy-tale  dream,  are  very  severely  punishe(i. 

We  do  quite  the  same  at  night  in  similar  circumstances  with 
our  own  rivals  in  dreams. 

An  acquaintance  had  it  in  mind  to  woo  a  maiden.  In  the  house 
of  his  admired  he  met  other  young  people  one  of  whom  he  sus- 
pected might  also  have  intentions.  After  an  invitation  he  dreamt, 
among  other  things,  that  he  killed  his  adversary,  with  whom  in 
waking  life  he  was  pleasantly  related  socially.  Finally  he  shoved 
him  under  the  piano  (he  himself  is  a  good  piano  player)  so  that 
only  the  head  projected,  namely  in  the  spot  where  otherwise  the 
pedals  would  be  found.  Now  in  playing  he  tread  upon  the  head 
of  the  poor  rival  with  his  feet ! 

As  is  fully  represented  in  Amor  and  Psyche  the  heroine  also    , 
here  in  the  fairy  tale  of  the  brown  dog  is  sensible  of  the  embraces 
of  a  man  with  whom  she  sleeps  but  who 'she  cannot  see. 

One  is  thereby  reminded  in  the  liveliest  manner  of  fully  anal- 
ogous hallucinatory  perceptions  which  our  patients  frequently 
relate. 

One  such  patient  experienced  this  connubial  embrace  clearly 
every  night  at  two  o'clock  and  had  to  answer  it.  That  this  autom- 
atism had  always  to  appear  when  the  clock  struck  two,  as  the  sym- 
bol for  the  existence  of  two  loved  ones,  depends  upon  a  similar 
comical  association,  as  that  which  accounts  for  the  association  of 
lark  (Loweneckerchen)  and  lion  (Lowe). 

That  the  dog  appears  here  as  a  sexual  symbol  in  condensation 
with  witchcraft  as  a  double  being  appears,  after  the  former  ex- 


/ 


46  WISHFULFILLMENT  AND  SYMBOLISM   IN  FAIRY  TALES 

Samples,  to  be  without  doubt,  and  it  is  shown  by  such  examples  as 
that  the  dog  is  one  of  the  commonest  sexual  animals,  that  is 
symbolic  animals,  for  the  masculine-sexual  in  the  dream  and  in 

\l:he  dream-like  experiences  of  the  insane.^^ 

The  sleeping  potion  (in  other  fairy  tales  it  is  a  sleep-thorn) 
plays,  in  the  same  connection  as  here,  an  important  role  in  fairy 
tales,  rarely  in  other  significance,  that  is  without  dependence  upon 
a  sexual  wish-structure.  The  being  neglected  for  another,  a  rival, 
is  here  symbolically  indicated  in  this  manner,  bearing  throughout 
a  character  of  dream  origin.  Through  some  means  the  spell  is 
finally  broken  and  the  prince  again  recognizes  the  spurned  bride 
by  his  side.  The  matter  is  so  brought  about  that  he  has  no  blame 
for  his  forgetting  and  deserting,  but  the  strange,  bad  influences 
are  at  fault. 

In  the  "Grumbling  Ox-maw"  (Rittershaus,  XI,  p.  50)  when 
the  queen  was  dead  and  her  husband  appeared  inconsolable,  there 
entered  the  royal  halls  a  beautiful  woman  with  a  goblet  full  of 
wine.  She  let  fall,  unnoticed  by  him,  a  drop  upon  the  lips  of  the 
king.  Then  he  arouses  from  his  brooding,  drains  the  goblet,  and 
forgets  his  dead  spouse.    He  now  marries  the  beautiful  stranger, 

.  who  naturally  is  a  sorceress  and  as  a  bad  stepmother  bewitches 
his  only  daughter  in  his  absence  and  changes  her  into  an  ox-maw, 

•I.  which  in  this  fairy  tale  always  has  the  role  and  attributes  of  a 

i  human  being.  The  ox-maw  is  delivered  by  a  prince  whom  she 
promises  to  marry.  The  mother  of  this  prince  suddenly  sees,  on 
the  marriage  night,  instead  of  the  maw  a  beautiful  princess,  takes 
quickly  the  put  aside  covering,  that  is  the  maw,  and  burns  it. 
(For  the  significance  of  fire  see  earlier  pages;  for  the  burning  of 
the  magic  covering  on  the  wedding  night  see  the  remarks  on  the 
fairy  tale  "  Kisa  "  in  the  chapter  The  Transposition  Upward,  also 
the  Icelandic  Cinderella  cited.)  According  to  Rittershaus  (p.  52) 
the  drink  of  oblivion,  which  the  sorceress  gives  to  the  sorrowing 
king,  appears  already  in  the  Volsunga  Saga ;  then  further  in  the 
tale  of  "The  True  Bride"  (Rittershaus,  XXVII,  p.  113).  A 
royal  pair  had  no  children.  When  the  king  threatens  to  kill  his 
wife  if  she  has  no  child  on  his  return  from  his  voyage,  she  takes 
the  part  of  one  of  his  servants  on  his  journey,  without  being  rec- 

^^  Compare  also  Jung,  "  Diagnostische  Assoziationsstudien,"  VIII  Bei- 
trag,  p.  47- 


SYMBOLISM    OF   THE   FAIRY   TALE  47 

ognized  by  him,  and  he  takes  her  in  his  tent  as  the  most  beautiful 
of  three  women.  She  returns  home  unrecognized;  she  bore  a 
daughter,  Isol,  and  died.  (So  Isol  is  by  fate  made  an  especially 
conspicuous  being.)  Isol  found  later  on  the  shore  a  small,  very 
beautiful  boy,  in  a  box,  named  Tistram,  rescues  him  and  takes  him 
to  herself  to  espouse.  And  so  Tistram  is  introduced  as  a  wonder 
child.  (Compare  the  finding  of  Moses  by  the  daughter  of  the 
Egyptian  King!)  This  motive  frequently  occurs  in  fairy  tales 
and  dominates  a  number  of  examples  of  sexual  transposition  sym- 
bols to  be  mentioned  later. 

The  king  marries  a  sorceress  for  his  second  wife.  When  he 
goes  with  Tistram  on  a  journey  she  seeks  to  destroy  the  blonde 
Isol  and  to  give  her  daughter,  the  dark  Isota,  to  the  returning 
Tistram  to  wife.  When  Tistram  first  inquires  for  his  true  bride 
the  sorceress  gives  him  a  potion  so  that  he  quite  forgets  Isol  and  is 
willing  to  take  Isota.  Isol  comes  to  the  court  as  a  poor  maiden, 
and  in  place  of  the  dark  Isota  who  secretly  bears  a  child,  is  obliged 
to  ride  by  Tistram's  side  in  the  wedding  procession,  disguised  as 
his  bride  but  is  forbidden  to  speak  to  him.  In  order,  however,  to 
awake  the  old  memories,  she  says,  as  they  pass  an  old  ruin : 

Formerly  thou  hast  shone  upon  the  earth, 

Now  thou  hast  become  black  with  earth, 

O  my  house  (referring  to  her  burned  "Woman's  house"). 

and  upon  seeing  a  brook : 

Here  runs  the  brook 

Where  Tistram  and  the  fair  Isold 

Pledged  her  love  and  faith. 

He  gave  me  the  jar, 

Gauntlets  I  gave  to  him, 

Now  can  you  remember  well. 

The  prince  will  not  go  to  bed  with  Isota  that  night  until  she 
explains  to  him  what  these  utterances  signify  that  she  has  given 
expression  to  during  the  ride.  As  she  knows  nothing  of  them  she 
is  compelled  to  go  and  ask  the  disguised  Isol,  whereat  the  bride- 
groom discovers  the  plot,  remembers  Isol  and  takes  her  for  his 
wife. 

Also  in  the  fairy  story  of  the  "  Forgotten  Bride  "  that  is  met 
with  in  many  peoples  and  in  which  usually  a  false  kiss  causes  the 


48  WISHFULFILLMENT  AND  SYMBOLISM   IN  FAIRY  TALES 

forgetting.  It  is  related  in  one  of  the  Icelandic  settings,  that  the 
prince,  returning  home,  drank  water  (in  spite  of  the  warning  of 
the  bride!)  from  a  golden  goblet,  and  as  a  result  forgot  the  bride. 

In  "  The  True  Bride  "  (Rittershaus)  we  have  a  wish-structure 
of  a  sexual  nature  from  the  standpoint  of  Isol.  Instead  of  the 
wish-prince  being  enchanted  and  changed  by  a  bad  power  into  a 
sexually  symbolic  form,  here  the  forgetting  of  the  bride  is  brought 
about  by  the  sorceress,  and  the  overcoming  of  the  difficulty  and 
I  the  wish- fulfillment  lies  in  this,  that  Isol  is  able  to  bring  his 
memory  back,  similarly  as  the  heroine  in  the  "  Forgotten  Bride," 
through  other  means.  In  a  Greek  fairy  tale^-  the  princess  also^^ 
escapes  a  dragon  by  letting  herself  be  locked  in  a  chest.  This 
chest  comes  now  into  the  possession  of  her  beloved,  who  as  a 
result  of  the  mother's  kiss  had  forgotten  the  bride.  After  a  few 
days  the  maiden  is  discovered  by  him  and  he  marries  her  (Ritters- 
haus, p.  132). 

In  a  fairy  tale  cited  from  Rittershaus  (p.  141-2),  Jonides  and 
Hildur,  after  many  persecutions,  reach  the  castle  of  Jonides' 
parents  from  whom  Jonides  had  once  been  stolen  by  a  dragon. 
Hildur  rubs  an  ointment  on  him  which  works  so  that  Jonides 
cannot  forget  Hildur  when  he  goes  in  the  castle  in  order  to  be 
proclaimed  the  lawful  king.  Then  comes  along  a  bitch  and  licks 
the  ointment  off  and  Jonides  forgets  his  bride  completely  and 
marries  a  maiden,  who  later  turns  out  to  be  the  sorceress  whom 
Hildur  had  meant  to  annihilate.  Then  later  it  happens  that  he 
finds  Hildur  in  a  peasant  village  after  he  has  lost  his  way.  She 
anoints  "him  with  the  same  salve  and  then  there  returns  to  him  the 
memory  of  his  bride  whom  he  marries. 

\"~  The  motive  of  forgetting  in  fairy  tales  has  the  same  signifi- 
jcance  that  we  have  learned  from  Freud's  researches  into  the 
meaning  of  forgetting.^* 

Isol,  for  example,  finds  the  beautiful  boy  Tistram  on  the  shore 
and  rescues  him  in  order  later  to  espouse  him.  In  this  way  is 
indicated  the  association  in  youth  of  the  love  and  play  of  children 

^2  Sc;hmidt,  "  Griechische  Marchen,  Sagen  iind  Volkslieder,"  Leipzig, 
1877,  Pd.  12.    "  Der  Drache,"  cited  from  Rittershaus. 

'3  The  above  fairy  tale  is  related  to  the  chest  motive.  The  chest, 
which  is  to  be  opened  by  the  beloved,  looks  very  sexually  symbolic. 

1*  See  Nervous  and  Mental  Disease  Monograph  Series,  No.  15. 


SYMBOLISM    OF   THE   FAIRY   TALE  49 

as  is  especially  brought  out  in  other  similar  tales  and  as  has  been 
expressed  prominently  in  Jensen's  "  Gradiva  "  in  his  psychological 
works.  Jensen's  Norbert  Hanolt  flies  from  the  enchanted  terri- 
tory of  love  into  the  regions  of  archeological  science;  for  him 
this  signifies  about  the  same  as  the  magic  potion  of  oblivion  does 
for  the  fairy  prince  Tristram,  although  it  is  not  apparently  pre- 
sented by  an  unfriendly  rival.  Jensen  has  nothing  at  all  to  say 
about  it.  The  bas-relief  of  Gradiva,  the  peripatetic  studies  and 
the  adventures  in  Pompeii  in  Jensen's  novel  are  represented  in  the 
fairy  tale  of  Isol  by  the  expedition  on  horseback  during  which 
she  endeavors  to  reawaken  the  forgotten  memories  of  Tistram. 
The  fairy  tale  pictures  most  beautifully  the  resistance  which 
Tistram  opposes  to  the  memory.  It  is  indicated  in  the  material- 
istic, figurative  speech  of  the  fairy  tale  by  forbidding  Isol  to  speak 
directly  with  Tistram  so  that  she  recites  these  verses  to  herself. 
The  bas-relief  of  Gradiva  and  these  sayings  signify  the  same 
thing,  or  the  remark  of  Gradiva:  "  To  me  it  seems  as  though  we 
had  eaten  our  bread  together  once  like  this  two  thousand  years 
ago."  Precisely  through  the  false  bride,  who  removes  him  from 
his  true  love,  he  is  made  to  find  the  right  one,  Isol,  a  psychological 
moment,  which  Freud  in  the  work  mentioned  demonstrates  so 
plastically.  This  comparison  naturally  has  significance  for  the 
other  fairy  tales  which  show  the  motive  of  forgetting. 

In  the  language  of  fairy  tales  the  love  potion  expresses  pre-'j  \ 
cisely  the  indifference  for  ever)rthing  in  the  world  except  the ' 
object  of  love.     For  the  rest  during  this  time,  there  is  no  recollec-     j 
tion.    This  constellation  can  disappear  just  as  quickly.  / 

That  the  fairy  tale  thus  fully  recognizes  and  naively  expresses*'! 
the  toxic  nature  of  the  state  of  being  in  love  is  certainly  note- 
\    worthy. 

After  this  discussion  of  the  significance  of  the  forgetting  sym- 
bolism in  fairy  tales  and  the  overcoming  of  the  rival  in  the  sexual 
wish-structure  of  fairy  tales,  let  us  return  to  animal  symbolism 
after  still  pointing  out  that  in  Icelandic  fairy  tales  the  Winter 
Guest,  a  fairy  tale  figure  based  upon  the  Iceland  custom  of  keep- 
ing through  the  winter  a  guest  who  arrives  in  the  fall,  almost 
invariably  plays  the  part  of  a  sexual  rival  and  enemy  who  must 
be  overcome. 

The  winter  guest  appears  to  me  to  be  just  such  a  special  case 


{{     1 


50  WISH  FULFILLMENT  AND  SYMBOLISM   IN  FAIRY  TALES 

of  sexual  rival  as  the  stepmother.  Both  play  a  quite  analogous 
role. 

Similarly  with  the  already  referred  to  tales  ("Oda,"  "The 
Lark,"  "The  Prince  Transformed  into  a  Dog"),  in  the  variant 
"The  Black  Dog"  ("The  Black  Dog  of  the  Prince,"  Ritters- 
haus,  p.  25)  the  youngest  daughter  Ingibjorg  wishes  for  a  golden 
apple.  The  fatlier  gets  lost  on  the  way  home  in  mist  in  the  forest 
(enchanted  place),  comes  to  a  beautiful  garden,  and  finds,  after 
he  has  let  himself  be  lodged  in  the  castle  by  invisible  beings, 
golden  apples  upon  a  wonderful  tree.  When  he  has  picked  the 
most  beautiful  one  and  is  about  to  leave  the  castle,  a  great,  black 
dog  blocks  the  way  and  makes  the  familiar  demand. 

Ingibjorg  is  then  taken  away  in  a  splendid  carriage  by  the  dog. 
When  she  goes  to  bed  in  the  enchanted  castle  the  dog  comes  to 
her,  and  as  he  lies  by  her  in  bed  he  has  become  a  man. 

In  two  Norwegian  fairy  tales  (cited  by  Rittershaus,  p.  2'j')  the 
enchanted  prince  is  a  polar  bear. 

Benfey  communicates  in  an  extract  from  the  Somadevas  col- 
lection a  story  where  the  daughter  of  a  woodsman  is  married  by 
a  snake  king  ("Benfey  kleine  Schriften,"  2  Bd.,  Berlin,  1892,  I, 
p.  255-6;  cited  by  Rittershaus).  Rittershaus,  p.  28,  quotes  in  the 
same  list  one  Reporco  (Gonzenbach,  "Sicilian.  Marchen,"  Leip- 
zig, 1870,  2  Bd.,  I.,  42,  p.  285  ff.). 

In  the  stories  of  this  group  the  bride  forfeits  the  love,  and 
the  disenchantment  of  the  bridegroom  because  she  wishes  to 
look  at  him  at  night  and  see  when  he  sleeps  with  her  as  a  man 
and  awakes  him  by  a  hot  drop  from  her  candle  or  something 
similar.  After  many  difficulties  she  attains  a  reunion  and  the 
delivery  of  her  mate  from  witches,  while  under  similar  circum- 
stances, ^syche^^  loses  Amor  and  only  again  attains  her  be- 
loved after  great  trouble.  Venus  plays  the  role  of  a  sorceress. 
The  many  tasks  to  be  fulfilled  correspond  to  those  which  must 
often  be  carried  out  in  dreams  and  the  wish-deliria  of  the  mentally 
disturbed.  To  many  psychotics,  for  example,  the  confinement  in 
an  asylum  itself  and  the  work  accomplished  therein  appear  as  one 
of  the  tasks,  which  they  must  fulfill,  in  order  to  attain  the  object 
of  their  desires. 

I''  Apuleius,  "  Amor  and  Psyclic."  In  English  in  Open  Court  Publi- 
cations.    Bolin's  Library  for  Apuleius'  Works. 


CHAPTER  VI 

Transposition  Upward.     Infantilism. 

A  series  of  examples  of  sexual  symbolism  should  be  made  of 
special  mention  in  which  transposition  upward  is  utilized ;  Freud'- 
has  shown  how  among  the  dream  symbols  that  represent  the 
female  genitals,  another  bodily  organ,  the  mouth,  is  often  em- 
ployed, and  what  happens  to  it  in  the  dream  signifies  what  hap- 
Ps^s_to_the„genitals.  That  just  this  displacement  to  the  mouth  is 
frequently  utilized  by  the  dream  has  its  foundation  in  different 
determining  factors.  The  mouth,  because  of  its  analogy,  is  a 
very  obvious  symbol  in  the  same  body;  the  relation  to  one's  own 
person  may  be  given  very  simple  expression,  etc.  The  mouth, 
moreover,  is  one  of  the  Freudian  erogenous  zones. 

Jung-  has  given  illuminating  examples  of  this  from  the  dream 
of  an  hysteric  and  from  a  patient  with  dementia  prsecox. 

The  following  example  from  the  case  history  of  an  hysteric 
shows  in  an  unequivocal  way  this  "  upward  transposition," 
wherein  the  serpent  symbol  appears  with  the  same  significance  as 
in  "  Oda  and  the  Serpent." 

A  twenty-two  year  old  woman  suffered  from  hysteria  of 
sexual  genesis  with  a  wonderfully  clear,  transparent  structure.^ 
Special  circumstances  assisted  the  upward  transposition  of  the 

^Especially  in  "Bruchstiicke  einer  Hysteneanaly  se,"  Monatsschrift  fur 
Psychiatric  und  Neurologic,  Bd.  XVIII,  1905. 

2  Jung,  "  Diagnostische  Associationsstudien,"  VIII  Beitrag. 

3  Her  father  loved  her,  sexually;  it  struck  her  as  a  child  that  he, 
besides  other  evidences  of  tenderness,  slapped  her  in  a  peculiar  way  on 
her  nates,  and  indeed  only  in  the  absence  of  her  mother.  When  she  was 
fifteen  years  old,  and,  on  the  occasion  of  a  holiday  play,  looked  very  pretty 
in  her  costume,  her  teacher  (an  alcoholic)  and  her  father,  who  also  had 
been  drinking  too  much  on  this  day,  sought — one  following  another — to 
seduce  her.  These  experiences  had  no  pathogenic  results  until  after  her 
father  jealously  destroyed  her  tender  relations  with  a  young  man.  From 
then  on  she  was  unable  to  sing  in  the  singing  club  directed  by  that  teacher. 
The  transposition  of  the  symptoms  was  completed  by  an  undeserved  box 
on  the  ear, — the  only  one, — a  counterpart  to  the  sexual  caresses,  transposed 
upward,  which  the  father  applied  to  her  somewhat  later  in  a  fit  of  jealousy. 

51 


52  WISHFULFILLMENT  AND  SYMBOLISM  IN  FAIRY  TALES 

main  symptoms  from  below,  that  is,  the  genitals,  to  the  throat 
(pain,  inability  to  sing,  hoarseness,  dry  throat,  pressure  in  the 
throat,  etc.).  The  patient  often  had  dreams  in  which  she  was 
naked  and  was  pursued  by  her  former  teacher  or  her  father — two 
determining  figures  in  the  genesis  of  her  illness — or  she  was 
thrown  in  a  moss  bed  and  her  clothes  torn  off  by  a  man. 

Once  she  dreamt  she  was  in  the  fields.  The  hay  had  been 
raked  up  into  small  piles — shocks.  Suddenly  a  serpent  appeared 
looking  out  from  each  hay  shock.  One  especially  large  one 
slipped  into  her  mouth  and  bit  her  palate.  The  hay  shocks  are 
the  hairy  portion  of  the  genitals  out  of  which  the  serpent,  the 
penis,  looks  out,  and  so  become  a  counterpart  of  the  nymphae 
forest  cited  by  Freud,*  which  represented  the  female  genitals. 
In  the  fairy  tales  (and  mythology)  there  is  a  whole  series  of 
similar  transpositions.  Their  value  lies,  not  only  in  offering  a 
surprising  confirmation  of  the  Freudian  views,  but  in  that  they  are 
a  serviceable  result  in  comparative  psychology. 
y  In  fairy  tales  it  is  for  the  most  part  barren  women  who  be- 
come pregnant  by  eating  (symbol  of  coitus  with  a  symbolic  object 
or  animal).  The  child  that  results  from  this  wonderful  fertiliza- 
tion is  usually  a  great  hero. 

In  "Ivan  Cow  Son  of  the  Storm  Knight"  in  the  Russian 
fairy  stories  (Afanassiew,  Nr.  27)  the  fish  is  the  male  sexual 
symbol.  (Perhaps  the  fish  spawn  and  the  great  fruitfulness  of 
fish,  besides  those  qualities  mentioned  of  the  serpent,  are  new 
determining  moments.) 

A  royal  pair  were  still,  after  ten  years,  without  children. 
Then  the  king  sent  to  all  rulers  in  all  cities  and  to  all  peasants  to 
find  if  any  one  knew  how  the  queen  could  be  cured  so  that  she 
might  bear  a  child.  Of  all  who  came  no  one  could  help  except  a 
peasant's  son  to  whom  the  king  gave  a  pile  of  gold  and  three  days 
time.  First,  nothing  occurred  to  him.  not  even  in  his  dreams, 
then  he  met  an  old  woman  whom  he  had  first  sinirned  but  finally 
confided  his  troubles  to  her. 

She  had  him  tell  the  king  to  order  three  silk  nets  to  be  woven 
and  sink  them  in  the  sea  before  the  palace  windows.  She  said 
that  a  golden  scaled  pike  was  always  swimming  before  the  palace. 

*  Freud,  Journal  fiir  Psychologic  und  Neurologie,  Bd.  VIII,  1906. 
Bruckstiick,  /.  c,  p.  450. 


TRANSPOSITION    UPWARD  53 

If  the  king  sliould  catch  him  and  have  him  served  to  the  queen, 
she  would  be  with  child. 

The  peasant's  son  went  himself  on  the  sea;  the  pike  jumped 
high  out  of  the  water  and  tore  twice  all  three  nets  (symbol  for 
the  hymen?),  until  the  fellow,  for  the  third  time,  had  repaired 
the  nets  with  his  belt  and  his  silk  neckerchief  and  then  caught 
the  fish. 

The  royal  cook  cleaned  the  fish  and  poured  the  dishwater  out 
of  the  window,  a  cow  going  by  licked  it  up.  The  servant  who 
brought  the  cooked  pike  to  the  queen  to  eat,  on  the  way  broke  off 
a  piece  of  the  fin  and  tasted  it.  All  three  now  became  with  child 
at  the  same  time:  cow,  maid,  and  queen.  All  three  sons  were 
alike  as  to  hair  and  grew  in  hours  as  much  as  others  in  years. 
They  were  named  Ivan  Zarevitsch,  Ivan  Maidson,  and  Ivan  Cow- 
son — Storm  Knight.  Ivan  Cowson,  corresponding  to  the  rule  of 
fairy  tales,  was  the  strongest  of  the  three  and  the  hero  of  the 
following  Herculean  adventures,  which  brought  him  the  nick- 
name of  "  Storm  Knight."  The  remaining  pretty  clear  sexual 
symbolism  is  worthy  of  note.  The  substitution  of  the  impotent 
king  by  the  peasant's  son,  who  gets  the  receipt  for  catching  the 
wonderful  fish  from  a  witch,  in  whom  one  can  easily  see  the 
personification  of  the  sudden,  brilliant  notion  during  his  medita- 
tion ;  further  the  fellow  needs  his  belt  to  effect  the  catch. 

The  fairy  tale:  "The  Godmother's  Curse"  ("Island.  Volks- 
marchen,"  p.  68,  No.  17)  present  a  similar  symbolism. 

A  young  childless  duchess,  who  longed  very  much  for  a  child, 
went  once  for  a  walk,  with  her  servant,  in  a  beautiful  grove. 
Here  she  was  overcome  by  sleep,  and  being  unable  longer  to  resist 
it,  lay  down  to  rest.  In  a  dream,  three  women  dressed  in  blue 
appeared  to  her  and  said :  "  We  know  your  wish  and  we  would 
like  to  help  you  in  its  fulfillment.  Go  to  a  brook  here  in  the 
neighborhood  in  which  you  will  see  a  trout.  Bend  down  and  see 
that  in  drinking  the  trout  swims  into  your  mouth.  Then  you  will 
soon  after  become  pregnant.  We  will  search  later  for  the  new- 
born child  and  give  him  a  name."  The  queen  followed  these  in- 
structions and  was  brought  to  bed  with  a  beautiful  little  daughter. 

An  old  woman,  who  rendered  service  at  the  birth,  prepared 
the  table  for  only  two  of  the  women  instead  of  for  all  three;  on 
which  account  the  youngest  was  angry.    The  two  oldest  gave  the 


54  WISHFULFILLMENT  AND  SYMBOLISM   IN  FAIRY  TALES 

child  beauty,  goodness,  and  wisdom  and  in  addition  the  gift  that 
all  her  tears  would  be  changed  into  gold.  A  fine  prince  would 
marry  her  and  she  would  lead  a  happy  life  with  him  in  love. 
The  youngest  did  not  revoke  the  blessings  of  her  sisters.  But 
she  added  as  a  penalty  for  her  poor  reception  that  the  princess 
would  become  a  sparrow  on  her  wedding  night  and  only  for  a 
short  time  during  the  first  three  nights  should  she  regain  her 
human  form.  If  some  one  did  not  then  quickly  burn  the  sparrow 
skin,  she  must  always  remain  a  bird  (compare  "  Kisa  "  and  the 
Icelandic  Cinderella). 

The  story  then  goes  on  to  the  fulfillment  of  the  blessings  and 
the  curse  and  the  final  deliverance. 

Prophetic  dreams,  as  in  this  example,  occur  very  frequently 
in  fairy  tales  and  their  content  itself  is  also  dream-like. 

That  the  third  woman  (or  the  thirteenth  in  "The  Sleeping 
Beauty")  should,  out  of  anger,  add  a  bad  wish  to  the  good 
wishes,  is  a  common  fairy  tale  motive. 

•~  One  sees  the  wonderful  impregnation  under  the  symbol  of 
/  /transposition  meet  with  a  significant  fate,  and  we  often  find  char- 
acteristically the  same  motive  in  the  bible,  the  children  of  long 
barren  women  become  prominent  men,  or  the  procreation  and 
|birth  of  great  men  is  represented  as  wonderful  and  mysterious. 
'(Annunciation  by  the  Angel  Gabriel,  conception  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  vision  of  Zacharias,  see  Evang.  Luke,  I ;  promise  of  Isaac, 
Moses  I,  17  and  18  Chap. ;  promise  of  Samson's  birth.  Judges,  13 
and  14  Chap. ;  the  whole  history  of  Samson  presents  a  great  many 
fairy-story-like  signs.     Compare  also  the  Hercules  saga.) 

The  same  motive  appears  in  the  beginning  of  the  fairy  tale 
"The  Carnation"  (Grimm,  y6).  There  was  a  queen  to  whom 
God  had  denied  children.  She  went  every  morning  into  the  gar- 
den and  prayed  to  God  in  heaven  that  he  would  bestow  on  her  a 
son  or  a  daughter.  An  angel  came  from  heaven  and  said :  "  Be 
content,  you  shall  have  a  son  with  wishful  thoughts,  for  what  he 
wishes  for  from  this  world  that  will  he  obtain."  She  went  to  the 
king  and  told  him  the  happy  news,  and  when  the  time  came  she 
bore  a  son,  and  the  king  was  greatly  rejoiced,  etc. 

Rittershaus,  in  his  collection  cited,  gives  still  other  examples 
of  impregnation  by  the  swallowing  of  fish.  It  occurs  in  other 
Icelandic  sagas,  in  the  Greek,  Albanian  and  Sicilian  fairy  tales, 


TRANSPOSITION    UPWARD  55 

with  this  difference,  that  in  the  Icelandic  fairy  tales  already 
quoted  the  whole  fish  is  swallowed,  in  others  the  fish,  which  is 
caught  by  a  childless  man,  is  cut  up  at  the  house  and  distributed 
to  the  wife,  the  horse,  and  the  dogs  (male  sexual  animals?). 

I  refer  for  the  literary  references  to  Rittershaus,  p.  71. 

Compare  also  the  Russian  fairy  tale  of  "  Ivan  Cowson  the 
Storm  Knight." 

In  Grimm's  fairy  tale.  No.  85,  "  The  Gold  Children,"  the  same 
motive  appears. 

A  poor  fisherman  caught  a  golden  fish  which  promised  him, 
instead  of  his  hut,  a  castle  and  a  cupboard  which  would  contain 
everything  he  wished  to  eat,  if  he  would  throw  him  back  into  the 
water.  He  must,  however,  not  say  from  whence  these  splendors 
came.  Afterwards  when  he  betrayed  the  secret  to  his  curious 
wife  the  charm  was  dispelled  and  they  sat  again  in  the  poor  hut. 

He  caught  the  fish  a  second  time  and  the  same  thing  was 
repeated. 

The  third  time  the  gold  fish  said :  "  Take  me  home  and  cut  me 
up  into  six  pieces :  give  two  pieces  to  your  wife  to  eat,  two  to 
your  mare,  and  two  bury  in  the  earth.  This  will  bring  you 
blessings.  From  the  two  last  pieces  there  grew  two  golden  lilies, 
the  mare  had  two  golden  foals,  and  the  fisher's  wife  bore  two 
golden  children  whose  fate  the  story  goes  on  to  follow. 

Of  the  manifold,  concentrated,  accumulated  symbolisms  of  the 
fairy-tale  fragment,  especially  the  comparison  with  the  fruitful- 
ness  of  the  earth  which  is  repeatedly  found  in  mythology,  I  will 
only  note  that  in  dreams  the  same  theme  is  quite  as  commonly 
treated  in  various  forms. 

In  this  relation  the  prophetic  dream  of  Pharaoh  of  the  seven 
years  of  plenty  and  the  seven  years  of  famine  stands  out  realis- 
tically. 

The  same  theme  appears  first  in  the  dream  of  the  seven  fat 
and  the  seven  lean  cows,  then  when  Pharaoh  sleeps  again,  in  the 
dream  of  the  ears  of  corn  (Moses  I,  41). 

In  the  fairy  tale  of  "^Kisa"  (=Cat,  Rittershaus,  p.  yT„  No. 
XVIII)  the  king  threatens  his  childless  queen,  just  as  he  was 
starting  out  on  a  journey,  that  he  would  have  her  killed  if  she 
had  no  child  upon  his  return  home.  Sadly  the  queen  sat  in  her 
garden.    An  old  woman  came  to  her  and  advised  her  to  drink 


56  WISHFULFILLMENT  AND  SYMBOLISM   IN  FAIRY  TALES 

out  of  a  Spring  in  the  forest ;  in  this  spring  were  two  trouts,  one 
black  and  one  white.  She  must  swallow  the  white  trout,  but  only 
that  one  and  not  the  black  one. 

In  spite  of  every  care  the  two  fish  both  slipped  into  the  queen's 
mouth.  After  nine  months  she  gave  birth  to  a  very  beautiful  girl 
and  to  a  black  cat. 

The  black  cat,  at  first  chased  away,  is  then  the  assistant  of 
the  princess  against  a  giant  with  whom  she  does  not  want  to  go 
and  who  thereupon  cuts  off  her  legs  (abasia  dream-motive?)  and 
wishes  to  kill  her.  She  heals  her  legs  with  the  grass  of  life  and 
kills  the  giant.  At  the  marriage  of  the  princess,  Kisa  again  be- 
comes a  beautiful  princess.  A  wicked  stepmother  has  changed 
her  and  the  princess  into  trout,  she,  however,  from  especial  hate, 
she  makes  a  cat  at  her  new  birth,  which  only  after  laying  at  the 
floor  of  the  bridal  bed  of  the  princess  on  the  wedding  night,  can 
be  delivered. 

Besides  the  sexual  transposition  and  the  motive  of  reincarna- 
tion the  tale  is  full  of  sexual,  dream-like  symbolisms. 

In  a  fairy  story  of  Straparola  (cited  from  Rittershaus,  p.  76) 
a  marchioness  gives  birth  to  a  daughter  and  also  an  adder  at  the 
same  time.  In  an  analogous  Norwegian  tale  (cited  from  Rit- 
tershaus, p.  76)  a  childless  queen  bathes  one  evening,  on  the 
advice  of  an  old  beggar  woman,  and  sets  the  bath  water  under 
her  bed. 

In  the  morning  two  flowers  have  grown  in  it,  one  ugly  and  the 
other  beautiful.  As  the  flowers  taste  so  good  to  her  the  queen 
eats  them  both  contrary  to  the  advice  of  the  old  woman.  Then 
she  bears  two  daughters,  the  first  a  true  monster  riding  on  a 
goat  and  then  a  lovely  Httle  girl,  etc. 

I  The  flowers,  which  stand  here  in  the  place  of  the  fishes,  are 
also  employed  as  male  sexual  symbols  in  pathology.  Namely 
flower  stems  and  lily  stalks  play  this  role  in  the  delusions  or 
dreams  of  dementia  pr?ecox  as  shown  by  association  experi- 
ments. May  not  the  lilies  which  Mary,  Joseph  and  the  Angel  of 
the  Annunciation  often  carry  have  a  similar  meaning  instead  of 
that  usually  accepted? 

The  bath  water  under  the  bed  is  throughout  a  sexual  com- 
ponent of  the  dream-like  fairy  story. 

The  Freudian  upward  transposition  is  given  in  the  eating  of 
the  flowers. 


TRANSPOSITION    UPWARD  57 

In  the  literary  references  of  Rittershaus  (p.  'J'j')  we  still  find 
the  simultaneous  birth  of  a  boy  and  an  ichneumon  in  the  Pantscha- 
tandra.  Aso  the  son  of  a  Brahman  is  born  as  a  serpent,  whose 
father,  on  the  marriage  night  of  his  son,  burned  his  serpent  skin 
so  that  the  son  retained  his  human  form.^  (Benfey,  "  Pantscha- 
tandra,  Fiinf  Bucher  indischer  Fabeln,  Marchen  und  Erzahlun- 
gen,"  Leipzig,  1859,  Bd.  II,  p.  147,  cited  by  Rittershaus,  p.  ']']). 

According  to  Benfey  (cited  by  Rittershaus,  p.  'j'j)  the  burning 
of  the  animal  hide,  through  which  the  enchanted  man  becomes 
compelled  to  keep  his  human  form,  is  a  Hindu  belief. 

It  can  hardly  be  demonstrated  that  the  burning  of  the  animal 
hide  originally  appears  only  in  a  sexual  connection  (as  previously 
in  the  wedding  night)  ;  however,  it  appears  so  in  very  many  cases 
and  the  deliverance  from  enchantment  and  the  espousal  appear 
together  almost  always  in  the  fairy  tales,  which  represent  sexual 
wish-structures,  which,  after  what  has  been  said  of  the  signifi- 
cance of  enchantment  in  the  sexual  wish-tales,  is  understandable. 
The  Brahman  story  cited  induces  me,  therefore,  to  draw  attention 
to  the  sexually  symbolic  significance  of  fire  in  dreams,  as  Freud 
("  Bruckstiick,"  etc.)  confirmed  by  Jung  (Diagnost.  Assoc. 
Studien,  VIII  Beitrag)  has  explained  and  of  which  I  myself 
possess  good  examples,  and  to  point  out  that  here  again  is  shown 
an  accumulation  of  sexual  symbols  (serpent,  fire). 

I  also  wish  to  call  attention  to  the  fire-engine  dream.  A  double 
question,  which  at  any  rate  the  symbolism  of  "  upward  transposi- 
tion "  makes  use  of  and  at  the  same  time  explains,  is  propounded 
by  the  giantesses  to  the  king's  son  whom  they  have  stolen  (Rit- 
tershaus, No.  41,  p.  173).  The  peasant's  daughter  Signy,  who 
sets  out  to  seek  and  to  save  him,  finds  him  in  an  enchanted  sleep 
in  the  cave  of  the  giantesses,  listens  how  they  awake  him  by  the 
song  of  swans  and  how  the  younger  asks  him  whether  he  wishes 
to  eat?  He  answers  no.  Thereupon  she  asks  him  if  he  will 
marry  her?  To  that  also  he  replies  no,  with  horror.  Thereupon 
the  prince  is  lulled  to  sleep  again  by  the  same  song.    This  goes 

^  An  example,  that  enchantment  signifies  a  sexual  revenge,  one  can 
find  in  B.  Schmidt,  "Das  Volksleben  der  Neugriechen,"  p.  112.  A  nereid 
transformed  her  beloved,  her  untrue  lover,  into  a  serpent;  he  should  re- 
main enchanted  until  he  found  a  sweetheart  who  was  equal  to  her  in 
beauty !  (A  special  case,  which  allows  us  to  assume,  that  also  in  the  case 
of  the  serpent  of  Oda  a  sexual  motive  conditioned  the  enchantment.) 


58  WISHFULFILLMENT  AND  SYMBOLISM  IN  FAIRY  TALES 

on  and  on  until  the  peasant's  daughter  wakens  him  in  the  same 
manner  from  his  enchanted  sleep  and  after  that  she  rescues  him. 

The  Russian  fairy  tales  contain  still  more  examples  of  trans- 
position. 

In  "  The  Little  Bear  and  the  Three  Knights,  Mustachio, 
Mover-of -Mountains,  and  Uprooter-of-Oaks"  (Afanassiew — A. 
Meyer,  No.  28)  the  childless  wife  buys,  at  the  command  of  her 
husband,  two  turnips.  One  they  ate,  the  other  they  put  in  tlie 
oven,  in  order  to  dry  it.  After  a  while  a  small  voice  cries  out: 
"  Little  mother,  open  the  door,  it  is  too  hot  in  here !  "  She  opened 
the  oven  door  and  there  lay  a  living  girl  in  the  stove  pipe.  "  What 
is  that?"  asked  the  husband.  "Oh,  little  father,  God  has  sent 
us  a  child !  "    They  named  it  Little  Turnip, 

Later  the  Little  Turnip,  while  searching  for  berries  with  other 
little  girls,  lost  her  way  in  a  thick,  gloomy  forest.  They  came  to 
a  little  cottage  in  which  a  bear  was  sitting.  He  brought  some 
porridge  and  said :  "  Eat  pretty  girls.  Who  does  not  eat  must  be 
my  wife."  All  the  little  girls  ate  except  Little  Turnip  and  they 
were  allowed  to  go.  Little  Turnip,  however,  was  retained.  Little 
Turnip  grew  constantly  larger,  escaped  one  day,  and  at  home  soon 
had  a  son,  half  man,  half  bear,  whom  they  christened  Iwaschko, 
Little-Bear.  He  grew,  not  in  years  but  in  hours  (as  is  often  the 
case  with  fairy  tale  heroes),  accomplished  Herculean  deeds,  and 
finally  rescued  a  maiden  who  was  held  captive  in  the  under  world 
by  the  great  witch.  Comment  is  quite  superfluous.  The  begin- 
ning by  eating  the  turnip  and  the  incubation  in  the  stove-pipe 
instead  of  the  uterus,  might  as  well  have  its  origin  in  a  dream 
(compare  the  example  of  the  dream  with  the  stove-pipe).    Also 

ihere  the  people  are  old  and  childless.  The  two  turnips,  instead 
ibf  only  one,  correspond  to  an  already  pointed  out  dream  phe- 
.momenon ;  the  problem  here  is  to  unite  impregnation  and  preg- 
nancy in  one  dream.  Turnip  is  also  applied  by  our  peasants  in 
'their  rude,  rough  wit  as  a  symbol  of  the  male  organ  of  copulation, 
of  which  I  know  several  examples. 

The  fairy  tale  of  "  Little  Turnip  "  gives  us  tlie  key  to  unlock 
the  meaning  of  the  beginning  of  the  fairy  tale  "  Rampion," 
(Grimm,  No.  12). 

♦»^    ,         A  man  and  his  wife  wished  a  long  time  in  vain  for  a  child.    At 
the  back  of  the  house  was  a  little  window  from  which  one  could 


^ 


*t: 


TRANSPOSITION    UPWARD  59 

look  into  a  magnificent  garden  which  was  surrounded  by  a  high 
wall.  It  belonged  to  a  dreadful  witch.  The  wife  saw  a  beautiful 
bed  of  rampions  [radishes].  She  was  seized  with  an  uncon- 
trollable longing  to  eat  rampions  so  that  she  wasted  away  and 
looked  wretched  and  answered  anxious  questions  by  saying :  "  Oh, 
if  I  cannot  get  some  of  those  rampions  to  eat  that  grow  in  the 
garden  back  of  our  house,  I  shall  die."  Her  husband  climbed  into 
the  garden  of  the  enchantress  and,  at  any  cost,  dug  up  some 
rampions  and  brought  them  to  his  wife.  She  made  them  into  a 
salad  at  once  and  ate  it  with  a  great  relish. 

The  enchantress  afterwards  desired  of  the  man  that,  for  the 
rampions,  he  should  give  her  the  child  that  his  wife  would  bear. 
The  enchantress  came  at  once  to  take  the  child  away  and  she 
named  it  Rampion.  The  further  fate  of  Rampion  with  the  long 
hair,  and  her  final  rescue  by  a  prince,  we  need  not  go  into. 

Sexual  transposition  is  also  suggested  in  a  passage  in  the  fairy 
tale,  "Everything  Depends  on  God's  Blessing"  (Afanassiew — 
A.  Meyer,  No.  22,  p.  95). 

A  devil  relates  how  he  has  made  a  czarina  (princess)  sick; 
she  is  blind,  deaf  and  confused.  In  order  to  make  her  well  one 
must  take  the  cross  from  a  particular  church,  pour  water  over  it, 
wash  the  princess  with  this  water  and  give  it  to  her  to  drink. 
Under  a  special  stone  sits  a  frog  (masculine  sex  animal)  which 
must  be  caught  and  a  piece  of  the  Host,  which  he  has  stolen, 
taken  from  his  mouth.    This  the  princess  must  eat. 

The  hero  of  the  story  follows  these  instructions,  makes  the 
princess  well,  and  she  becomes  his  bride. 

Whoever  understands  the  nature  of  the  "complex"  of  which 
we  have  spoken  in  our  work  ("  Diagnostische  Associations- 
studien,"  etc.)  will  understand  the  language  of  this  fairy  tale! 

The  mention  of  the  Host  in  this  connection  suggests  that  the 
love-feast  of  Christ,  as  it  is  now  celebrated  as  a  devout  com- 
munion, may  be  erotically  colored.  However,  a  digression  into 
religious  erotics  would  lead  us  too  far  afield. 

The  "History  of  Wassilissa  with  the  Golden  Braid  and  Ivan- 
from-the-Pea"  (Afanassiew — A.  Meyer,  No.  26,  p.  130)  contains 
a  further  example.  In  it  a  splendid  fairy-tale  language  relates 
of  the  wonderfully  beautiful  Wassilissa,  who  languished  in  her 
dungeon,  her  heart  oppressed  by  sadness,  until  her  father,  the 


60  WISH  FULFILLMENT  AND  SYMBOLISM   IN   FAIRY  TALES 

Czar  Swietosar,  prepared  her,  that  she  must  choose  one  among 
the  many  royal  suitors.  She  was  allowed  now,  for  the  first  time, 
to  go  walking  and  search  for  flowers.  She  went  with  her  face 
unveiled,  her  beauty  was  without  protection.  She  became  sepa- 
rated a  little,  innocently,  from  her  attendants,  and  was  carried 
away  by  a  mighty  storm  to  the  land  of  the  cruel  dragon.  Her  two 
brothers,  who  sought  her  and  came,  after  long  journeys,  to  the 
enchanted  castle  of  the  imprisoned  Wassilissa,  were  killed  by  him. 
Wassilissa  with  the  golden  hair  thought  nevertheless  of  rescue 
and  through  flattery  wheedled  the  secret  from  the  dragon  that  no 
adversary  lived  who  was  stronger  than  he.  However,  jokingly  he 
added,  that  at  his  birth  it  was  foretold  that  his  adversary  was 
named  Ivan  Pea. 

The  mourning  mother  of  the  beautiful  Wassilissa  went  to 
walk  in  the  garden  with  the  Bo  jar  woman.  The  day  was  hot  and 
she  wanted  a  drink.  In  the  garden  there  broke  from  the  slope  of 
a  hill  a  stream  of  spring  water  which  was  caught  in  a  white 
marble  trough.  She  dipped  up  the  clear,  pure  water  with  a  ladle 
and  drank  hastily  swallowing  thereby,  suddenly,  a  pea.  The  pea 
swelled  and  the  Czarina  had  a  sinking  spell.  The  pea  continued  to 
grow  and  the  Czarina  had  to  carry  the  burden. 

After  a  time  a  son  arrived,  Ivan-from-the-Pea,  who  grew  by 
hours  instead  of  by  years  and  in  ten  years  became  a  knight  of 
marvellous  strength  who  conquered  the  dragon  and  rescued 
Wassilissa,  etc. 

This  fairy  tale  calls  to  mind  two  mythological  representations 
of  impregnation  after  the  manner  of  the  Freudian  transposition, 
of  Demeter's  daughter  Cora  and  Eve  in  Paradise. 

Cora,  the  daughter  of  Zeus  and  Demeter,  with  the  daughters 
of  Oceanus,  looked  for  spring  flowers.  As  she  plucked  the  death's 
flower  narcissus  the  earth  suddenly  opened,  and  Hades  rose  and 
stole  Cora  from  the  midst  of  her  companions. 

Later  Zeus,  who  first  put  aside  the  prayers  to  send  her  back, 
condescended  to  the  arrangement  that  Cora  need  only  spend  a  third 
of  the  year  in  the  underworld.  The  denial  of  a  return  altogether 
was  based  upon  Cora  having  received  from  her  spouse  the  seed 
of  a  pomegranate  and  eaten  it — symbol  of  fertilization  (cited 
from  Stending,  "  Griechische  und  romische  Mythologie,"  Leipzig, 
Goschen,  1905,  III  Auflage). 


TRANSPOSITION   UPWARD  6 1 

The  biblical  tale  of  the  fall  has  been  looked  upon  for  a  long 
time  as  an  impregnation  symbolism.  We  find  here  also  a  con- 
densation :  The  serpent  is  the  betrayer  and  through  it  first  comes 
the  transposition  through  the  eating  of  the  fruit.  After  this 
Adam  and  Eve  see  that  they  are  naked  and  are  ashamed,  and  it 
is  prophesied  that  Eve  will  bear  and  bring  forth  in  pain.  Fol- 
lowing this  the  Bible  tells  us  besides  of  the  wish-formed  enchanted 
gift  of  which  we  have  earlier  noted  a  series  from  mytholog}'  and 
fairy  tales.  It  deals  with  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  life.  "And  the 
Lord  God  said,  Behold,  the  man  is  become  one  of  us,  to  know 
good  and  evil :  and  now  lest  he  put  forth  his  hand,  and  take  also 
of  the  tree  of  life,  and  eat,  and  live  forever :  Therefore  the  Lord 
God  sent  him  forth  from  the  garden  of  Eden,  to  till  the  ground 
from  whence  he  was  taken.  So  he  drove  out  the  man:  and  he 
placed  at  the  east  of  the  garden  of  Eden  Cherubims,  and  a  flaming 
sword  which  turned  every  way,  to  keep  the  way  of  the  tree  of  life^ 
(Moses  I,  3  Chap.,  22-24). 

Many  representations  of  the  Annunciation  show  the  same 
accumulation  of  symbols  to  represent  the  same  things  as  above 
(serpent,  fruit,  eat).  A  master  of  the  Life  of  Mary  in  the  old 
Pinakothek  in  Munich  shows  us  Mary,  who  is  surprised  in  her 
contemplations  by  an  angel  with  a  message.  He  bears  a  lily  stalk 
(compare  the  example  mentioned  previously  where  the  angel 
appears  to  be  an  impregnation  symbol)  ;  the  Holy  Ghost,  by 
whom  Mary  shall  conceive,  descends  in  the  form  of  a  dove  (com- 
pare the  bird  symbolism  in  fairy  tales) .  Above  is  God  the  Father, 
from  whom  a  bundle  of  rays  descend  down  which  an  extremely 
small  male  child  with  the  cross  flies  as  a  sign  to  Mary.  Still  one 
may  doubt  my  explanation !  Besides  this  old  master  liked  to 
remember  an  elegant  bed  in  the  background  of  Mary's  bed- 
chamber in  his  representations  of  the  Annunciation. 

The  examples  from  fairy  tales  in  which  the  "  upward  trans- 
position"  plays  a  role  are  proofs  for  infantile  sexual  theories; 
for  which  reason  the  view  has  developed  that  this  masking  of 
sexual  processes  took  its  origin  in  the  telling  of  fairy  stories  by 
women.  -^ 

6  I  refer  to  the  work  of  Aug.  Wiinsche,  "  Die  Sagen  vom  Lebensbaum 
und  Lebenswasser."  Altorientalische  Mythen,  from  the  collection  "  Ex 
oriente  lux,"  edited  by  H.  Winckler,  Bd.  I,  Heft  2/3,  Leipzig,  E.  Pfeiffer, 
1905. 


62  WISHFULFILLMENT  AND  SYMBOLISM   IN  FAIRY  TALES 

Now  we  know,  however,  that  also  in  dreams  infantilism  gets 
a  very  great  expansion  in  order  that  the  wishes  of  the  uncon- 
X  scious  by  being  properly  censured  may  express  themselves  in  the 
dream.  The  fairy  tale  of  "The  Little  Bear,"  "  Ivan-of-the-Pea" 
and  similar  ones  represent  these  infantile  sexual  theories  quite 
convincingly. 

In  Freud's  "Interpretation  of  Dreams"  ("V.  The  Material 
and  Sources  of  Dreams  ")  the  significance  of  the  infantile  material 
in  the  dream  is  sufficiently  illustrated  and  analyzed.  What 
wonder,  if  in  the  fairy  tales  of  these  dream-like  structures  from 
chidhood,  mankind  expands  itself. 

We  find  the  same  immorality.  The  obstinate  princess  lets 
many  wooers  perish  until  the  right  one  comes  who  solves  the 
riddle.  The  egotistic  standpoint  dominates,  the  altruistic  has  not 
yet  appeared,  as  in  children.  Killing  of  the  nearest  relatives,  as 
in  children,  so  in  fairy  tale  wish-structure,  is  only  the  wish  to 
get  rid  of  somebody. 

The  infantile  rivalries,  as  they  are  set  forth  in  a  masterly  way 
in  Freud's  "  Interpretation  of  Dreams,"  find  expression  in  the 
story  of  "The  Twelve  Brotliers"  (Grimm,  No.  27)  ;  if  the  tliir- 
teenth  child,  the  youngest,  was  a  girl,  the  twelve  older,  the 
brothers,  would  be  murdered ;  the  father  (naturally ;  the  rival  of 
the  same  sex!  see  Interpretation  of  Dreams)  had  the  twelve 
caskets  already  prepared ;  therefore  they  had  to  run  away.  Simi- 
larly in  the  story  of  "The  Seven  Ravens"  (Grimm,  No.  25). 

In  certain  stepmother  tales  one  receives  the  impression  that 
the  component  "  mother "  in  the  word  "  stepmother "  is  over- 
iTetermined.  We  have  seen  the  stepmother  appear,  beside  other 
figures :  giantess,  witch,  etc.,  in  the  role  of  sexual  rival.  Now  we 
know  from  Freud  that  the  mother  herself  may  be  the  sexual 
rival  of  the  daughter.  The  infantile  egoism  of  the  dream  and  the 
1  fairy-tale  docs  not  delay  having  the  good  mother  die  (first,  an 
infantile  wish,  see  "  Interpretation  of  Dreams,"  second,  it  signifies: 
the  good  mother  no  longer  exists  for  the  heroine,  tlie  child  or  the 
infantile  component  of  the  grown  wife  as  daughter,  because  she 
has  become  a  bad  figure,  a  rival).  She  is  substituted  by  the 
wicked  stepmother,  which  means  that  the  mother  has  become 
,  this  figure  to  the  fairy-tale  heroine  or  the  dreamer.  Here  a 
motive  from  "  Cinderella "  becomes  understandable,  as  express- 


TRANSPOSITION    UPWARD 


63 


ing  infantilism.    The  wish-tree  grows  on  the  grave  of  the  mother 
(stepmother).    The  mother  must  die. 

A  woman  of  my  acquaintance  maintained  the  belief  through 
her  whole  childhood,  until  she  was  about  fifteen  years  of  age, 
that  she  was  a  foundling ;  she  held  fast  to  the  idea.  It  rested  upon 
a  remark  of  the  mother :  "  Oh,  probably  some  one  picked  you  up 
on  the  street."  This  remark^,  of  which  the  memory  was  perfectly 
clear,  compels  us  to  assume  that  the  child  had  asked  from  where 
she  came.  The  delusion  built  itself  up  on  an  adapted  and  strongly 
believed  theory  of  sex.  Mark  Twain,  with  great  psychological 
understanding,  has  somewhere  said :  "  Faith  insists  on  believing 
something  that  one  does  not  believe."  If  the  child  was  bad  the 
mother  would  probably  say :  "  Strange,  she  is  not  like  anyone  in 
the  family."  A  fine  wish-thought  that  nourished  still  further  the 
delusion.  At  the  same  time  the  "  bad  "  child  felt  that  the  mother 
did  not  mean  well  by  her;  so  she  could  not  possibly  be  a  true 
mother  to  her.  If  we  render  "bad"  with  "egoistic"  in  the 
rivalry;  when  we  note  that  the  mother,  after  the  death  of  the 
father,  was  especially  solicitous  to  bring  up  a  pleasing,  well- 
mannered  young  woman  with  a  good  name,  because  gossip  is 
miich  more  apt  to  arise  about  a  family  without  a  father  at  the 
head,  the  vitality  of  this  childish  delusion  becomes  for  us  so  much 
the  more  understandable.  These  "  bad  experiences  "  have,  in  a 
significant  manner,  taken  refuge  in  the  delusion,  while  in  reality 
the  relations  between  mother  and  daughter  were  very  good. 

This  infantile  delusion  has  thus  made  a  bad  stepmother  out   \ 
of  the  mother,  and  the  fairy-tale  does  the  same  thing.'^ 

Precisely  in  the  fairy-tales  of  the  persecuted  beauty,  in  '^ 
"  Little  Snow-White,"  this  process  is  described  with  special  detail  1 
in  its  beginnings.  The  beautiful  queen,  who  becomes  the  step- 
mother, hates  the  still  more  beautiful  "  Little  Snow-White."  The 
fairy  tale  corresponds  thus  to  a  "  dream  "  of  the  heroine,  Little 
Snow-White,  under  the  influence  of  the  infantile  material.  So 
finally  the  meaning  of  this  fairy  tale  is  clear  and  also  all  others 
with  a  similar  theme. 

We  are  satisfied,  for  the  time  being,  with  this  intimation,  in 
order  to  sketch  the  great  role  of  infantilism  in  fairy  tales  which 

^  I  could  give  numerous  examples  of  analogous  delusions  in  youns 
women  who  were  well  and  in  women  with  dementia  praecox. 


t 


64  WISHFULFILLMENT  AND  SYMBOLISM   IN   FAIRY  TALES 

they  share  with  dreams.  There  could  naturally  be  found  innumer- 
able others ;  the  question  here  is  regarding  a  problem  which  must 
be  separately  solved.^ 

8  One  finds  in  these  stepmother  fairy  tales,  for  example,  that  the  father 
sexually  pursues  the  daughter,  or  as  in  "  The  Lark,"  brings  the  male  sexual 
symbol.    He  is  replaced  by  the  wish  prince. 


CHAPTER  VII 

Some  Special  Sexual  Fairy-Tale  Motives 

Fairy  tales  have  a  predilection  to  deal  with  various  sexual 
motives,  having  a  tendency  to  the  pathological,  although  with  a 
normal  root,  which  latter  is  constantly  emphasized  by  Freud. 

These  motives  follow  from  the  psychological  sexual  inclina- 
tion, especially  manifested  in  dreams,  between  father  and  daugh- 
ter, son  and  mother  (CEdipus  Saga!),  Further  of  cruelty  (sadis- 
tic root)  and  the  correspondingly  developed  resistance  in  women. 

" Drud ge-of -all-Work"  (Grimm,  65). — There  was  a  king  who 
had  a  wife  with  golden  hair  who  was  beautiful  beyond  compare. 
Before  her  death  she  made  him  promise  that  he  would  not  take 
another  wife  who  was  not  as  beautiful  as  she  and  did  not 
have  golden  hair  like  hers.  After  the  king  had  mourned  for  a 
long  time  he  sought  a  second  wife,  but  none  could  be  found  who 
had  the  desired  characteristics.  Then  his  eyes  fell  on  his  daugh- 
ter who  resembled  her  dead  mother  in  beauty;  he  was  consumed 
with  love  for  her  and  wished  to  make  her  his  wife.  In  order  to 
put  him  off  the  daughter  desired  wonderful  dresses,  difficult  to 
make,  and  a  mantle  made  of  a  thousand  furs  to  which  every 
animal  in  the  kingdom  must  contribute  a  piece  of  its  skin.  The 
king  was  not  deterred  and  brought  it  about  that  these  conditions 
were  fulfilled.  When  there  was  no  more  hope  the  princess  fled 
with  her  mantle  into  the  forest.  Here  she  was  discovered  by  the 
hunting  attendants  of  a  young  king.  She  was  then  employed  at 
menial  work  in  his  castle,  and  by  secret  contrivances  accomplished 
it  that  the  king  recognized  her  in  her  true  character  and  mar- 
ried her. 

The  persecution  through  the  father  is  here  a  special  form  of 
sexual  rivalry  with  the  wish  prince ;  the  whole  is  a  very  apparent 
dream-like  wish  structure  with  Drudge-of-all-Work  as  heroine 
and  the  introductory  special  motive.^ 

1  The  death  of  the  mother  is  probably  an  infantile  wish-thought  of  the 
daughter;  the  father  is  the  first  sweetheart  and  comes  later  to  be  rival  and 
persecutor. 

65 


66  WISHFULFILLMENT  AND  SYMBOLISM   IN  FAIRY  TALES 

Nowhere  better  than  here  could  be  pointed  out  the  similarity 
of  this  fairy-tale  motive  with  the  case  history  of  the  hysterical 
young  woman  whose  case  was  related  as  an  example  from  pa- 
thology of  transposition  symbolism.^ 

In  the  occurrence  of  this  hysteria  the  father  became  a  promi- 
nent personality  as  a  sexual  rival. 

The  young  woman  almost  regularly  saw  herself  pursued  in 
her  dreams  by  her  naked  father.  Her  wish-dream  corresponded 
in  principle  to  the  Drudge-of-all-Work  motive.  Instead  of  the 
original  sweetheart  there  appeared  indeed  later  in  the  dream  also 
the  substitution  through  the  physician,  a  frequent  occurrence  in 
the  process  of  cure  emphasized  by  Freud  (transference  on  the 
physician). 

The  father  first  appeared  as  sexual  persecutor  and  rival  in  the 
dream  and  in  the  hysterical  structure  at  the  moment  when  he 
stopped  the  relation  of  his  daughter  to  her  true  sweetheart.  With 
that  was  also  given  the  occasion  for  the  hysterical  symptoms,  in 
the  case  in  question  (through  the  box  on  the  ear),  especially  also 
to  the  transposition  of  the  hysterical  symptoms  upward  and  to 
completing  the  wish-structure.^ 

"The  Father  Persecutes  His  Ozvn  Daughter"  (Rittershaus, 
XXXI,  p.  133). — A  prince  killed  his  parents  and  his  sister  in 
order  to  secure  the  kingdom  for  himself.  Some  years  later  he 
married  a  beautiful  princess  and  after  one  year  she  bore  him  a 
daughter  named  Ingibjorg.  When  she  was  grown  her  mother  as 
she  lay  upon  her  death-bed  called  her  child  to  her  and  said  to  her 
that  after  her  death  her  wicked  father  would  wish  to  possess  her 
and  to  prevent  her  escape  would  tie  her  with  a  rope.  She  should 
now  endeavor  to  tie  her  bitch  to  the  rope  while  she,  through  flight, 
saved  herself.  She  should  then  bind  herself  with  a  girdle  and 
then  she  would  never  suffer  from  hunger. 

The  prophecies  of  the  mother  came  true.  Ingibjorg  suc- 
ceeded, in  the  darkness  of  the  night,  in  escaping  to  the  sea  where 
the  captain  of  a  merchant-man  took  her  on  board  his  ship.  She 
came  to  a  strange  kingdom  and  found  shelter  in  a  small  peasant's 
cottage. 

2  Also  here  this  alternative  role  the  father  (besides  the  singing  teacher). 
Therefore  he  appears  first  as  persecutor  where  he  becomes  the  outspoken, 
hostile  rival  of  the  young  man. 

8  Compare  Freud,  "  Bruchstiick  einer  Hysterieanalyse." 


SPECIAL   SEXUAL   FAIRY-TALE   MOTIVES  67 

The  peasant  had  to  make  all  the  clothes  for  the  young  unmar- 
ried king.  Since  Ingibjorg  came  everything  was  so  much  more 
beautifully  made,  sewed,  and  splendidly  embroidered  that  the 
king  wondered  about  it  and  resolved  to  investigate  the  matter. 
As  he  came  to  the  peasant's  house  he  saw  there  the  beautiful 
princess  and  he  was  consumed  with  love  for  her.  He  offered  her 
his  hand  and  Ingibjorg  agreed  gladly  to  the  marriage. 

Now  he  had  to  promise  her  never  to  take  in  a  strange  winter 
guest  without  her  knowledge.  The  king  promised.  After  some 
years  an  old  man  came  who  begged  the  king  to  take  him  in  and 
put  him  down  as  a  hen-pecked  husband  because  he  must  first  ask 
his  wife  about  such  a  little  thing.  The  king  was  ashamed  of  his 
promise  and  received  the  guest  without  the  consent  of  the  queen. 
The  motive  of  the  now  beginning  persecution  by  the  winter  guest 
(the  father)  who  kills  her  children  and  drives  her  into  misery  is 
a  resuming  of  the  original  theme.  With  the  help  of  a  princess 
bewitched  by  a  wicked  stepmother  in  an  ox's  maw,  Ingibjorg, 
after  many  difficulties,  is  returned  to  her  husband  again,  the 
father  (winter  guest)  is  annihilated. 

The  "unity  of  scene"  demanded  by  the  dream  is  thus  re- 
spected in  a  beautiful  manner  by  the  fairy  tale :  The  king  (that  is 
the  husband)  is  seated  on  a  golden  chair,  the  winter  guest,  how- 
ever, who  has  become  his  minister,  is  seated  on  an  iron  chair  with 
iron  braces,  which  close  tightly  about  his  breast  (anxiety?  bad 
conscience?).  He  must  now,  as  is  usual  in  Icelandic  fairy  tales, 
relate  the  story  of  his  life.  When  he  begins  to  lie  and  to  conceal 
his  misdeeds  the  iron  braces  press  tighter  and  tighter  and  iron 
prods  bore  into  his  breast.  Finally  he  has  confessed  everything 
and  now  a  rock  opens  beneath  him  and  he  falls  in  a  kettle  full  of 
boiling  pitch  and  is  consumed. 

The  ox's  maw  as  a  reward  marries  the  king's  brother  and  is 
delivered  from  the  spell  on  the  marriage  night. 

There  are  still  other  fairy  tales  in  Rittershaus  of  analogous 
content. 

Bjorn  Bragastakkur  (from  the  collection  of  Jon  Arnason, 
cited  by  Rittershaus)  is  no  king  but  a  wild  soldier  of  fortune  who 
lives  deep  in  the  solitary  forest.  He  stole  a  princess  and  com- 
pelled her  to  marry  him.  When  his  wife  died  he  also  wished  to 
marry  the  daughter,  named  Helga.     She  escapes  from  him  in  the 


68  WISHFULFILLMENT  AND  SYMBOLISM   IN  FAIRY  TALES 

night,  leaving  a  piece  of  wood  in  her  place  bound  with  a  rope  and 
which  she  begs  to  answer  for  her. 

Helga  first  helps  the  cook  of  a  king,  then  the  tailor,  where  the 
king  in  spite  of  her  hiding  discovers  her  and  then  marries  her. 
Her  own  father  becomes  here  also,  contrary  to  his  promise,  the 
winter  guest  of  the  king,  kills  her  children  and  gets  the  king 
through  cunning  to  order  his  wife  to  be  killed.  She  is  then  saved 
in  a  wonderful  way  by  magic,  also  the  children,  and  later  united 
with  her  husband  while  her  persecuting  father  is  annihilated. 

In  the  "Vitse  Ofifce"  (Miillenhof,  "  Sagen,  Marchen  und 
Lieder  der  Herzogtiimer  Schleswig,  Holstein  und  Lauenburg," 
Kiel,  1845,  cited  by  Rittershaus)  it  is  related  according  to  an  old 
Germanic  saga,  that  the  king  Offa  once  while  hunting  came  across 
a  wonderfully  beautiful  maiden  who  was  crying.  She  told  him 
that  her  father  wanted  her  to  marry.  Because  she  had  not  con- 
sented the  servants  have  been  commanded  to  kill  her  in  the  forest. 
The  servants  out  of  pity  spared  her  life  but  left  her  there  helpless. 

King  Offa  took  the  young  maiden  home  and  married  her. 
From  the  wars  he  sent  a  messenger  to  her  who  on  the  way  acci- 
dentally happened  on  the  bad  father  of  the  queen  who  exchanged 
the  letter  for  another  which  he  substituted  for  it  according  to 
which,  on  the  command  of  her  husband,  the  queen  and  her  chil- 
dren were  to  be  murdered.  Through  magic  they  were  saved  and 
later  found  their  way  back  to  the  mourning  king. 

Straparola  also  deals  with  the  same  theme  ("Les  Facetieuses 
nuits,"  Paris,  1857,  I  Nacht,  4  Fabel,  I.  S.,  58  flf.,  cited  by  Ritters- 
haus). A  prince  wishes  to  marry  his  daughter.  On  the  advice  of 
a  nurse  she  hides  in  a  cupboard  which  is  sold  and  is  taken  from 
the  palace  and  finally  comes  into  possession  of  the  king  of  Eng- 
land who  then  marries  her.  There  she  is  discovered  by  the 
father.  He  disguises  himself  as  an  astrologer  and  comes  to  the 
court.  Here  he  kills  his  two  grandchildren  and  trys  by  means  of 
a  bloody  knife  which  he  hides  near  the  queen  to  attach  suspicion 
to  his  daughter.  For  this  she  is  to  die  a  slow  death.  Her  old 
nurse  learns  of  her  misfortune,  arrives  upon  the  scene  and  dis- 
closes the  misdeeds  of  her  father. 

The  "Peasant  Daughter  Helga"  (Rittershaus,  XL),  a  beauti- 
ful maiden,  received  an  awl  from  her  dying  mother  which  could 
say   "  yes "   when  charged   to.     When   one  evening  her   father 


SPECIAL   SEXUAL   FAIRY-TALE   MOTIVES  69 

wished  to  compel  her  to  come  to  bed  with  him,  she  pretended, 
that  she  must  look  after  the  fire.  When  she  was  outside  she 
stuck  the  awl  in  the  wall  and  charged  it  to  say  "  yes."  Now  she 
herself  ran  out  into  the  dark  night. 

The  further  development  of  the  fairy  tale,  however,  takes  a 
different  course  than  those  previously  related. 

Towards  morning  she  had  penetrated  deep  into  the  forest  to 
a  neat  little  house.  The  owner  was  named  Herraudur  and  asked 
her  to  stay  with  him.  After  a  while  Helga  became  pregnant.  In 
the  sequel  Herraudur  was  ensnared  and  bewitched  by  a  sorceress 
who  sought  Helga's  life.  She  was  saved  with  the  help  of  magic, 
Herraudur  recognized  that  he  was  bewitched,  the  persecutor  was 
destroyed  and  Herraudur  celebrated  his  marriage  with  Helga. 

Here  is  the  place  to  go  into  that  somewhat  complexly  con- 
structed fairy  tale  of  "The  Beautiful  Sesselja"  (Rittershaus,  LI, 
p.  217). 

A  king  mourned  long  over  the  death  of  his  queen  and  declared 
that  he  would  only  marry  a  young  maiden  who  was  as  beautiful 
as  she  who  was  dead  and  was  like  her.  One  day  he  saw  his 
young  daughter  Sesselja  dressed  up  in  the  best  clothing  of  her 
mother  and  as  she  was  more  beautiful  than  her  mother  he  wished 
to  marry  her.  Sesselja  fled  now  out  of  the  kingdom  of  her  father. 
In  a  strange  kingdom  she  sought  shelter  with  poor  people  and  let 
herself  be  known  as  their  daughter  so  that  her  father  could  not 
discover  her.  Once  while  tending  the  sheep,  believing  herself 
unobserved,  she  dressed  up  in  the  good  clothes  of  her  mother. 
She  was  discovered  by  the  servants  of  a  princess  and  was  brought 
to  her  to  serve  her.  This  princess  was  also  named  Sesselja  with 
the  added  title  of  "  The  Proud,"  as  in  her  conceit  she  spurned  all 
suitors. 

Once  as  they  were  walking  together  they  heard,  deep  in  a  cleft, 
a  bird  lamenting.  Sesselja,  the  servant,  had  longer  hair  than  her 
mistress  so  that  the  bird  could  reach  it  when  it  was  let  down  and 
was  pulled  out.  The  princess  was  so  delighted  with  the  bird  that 
she  took  him  with  her  in  her  bed  room.  On  the  following  morn- 
ing, however,  it  had  disappeared.  Yet  during  the  night  which  the 
bird  passed  in  her  room,  the  princess  dreamt  a  wonderful  dream. 
After  several  days  there  came  to  her  a  wonderful  feeling  and  as 
the  gold,  that  her  father  had  once  given  her  and  that  only  retained 


v^ 


70  WISHFULFILLMENT  AND  SYMBOLISM   IN   FAIRY  TALES 

its  lustre  in  contact  with  virgins,  turned  black,  the  princess  knew 
that,  without  fault  of  her  own,  she  was  pregnant  (compare  the 
Annunciation  motive  with  the  dove). 

The  faithful  servant  now  helped  her  in  her  need,  helped  to 
conceal  her  pregnancy,  held  her  own  hands  over  that  of  the 
princess  that  contained  the  tell-tale  gold,  and  passed  herself  as 
the  mother  of  the  child. 

After  some  time  the  prince  arrives  who  had  been  transformed 
into  that  bird  by  the  wicked  stepmother,  but  could  be  delivered  by 
a  princess  risking  her  life  for  him,  and  wishes  to  marry  his  rescuer. 
The  princess  is  required  to  show  her  gold  but  affirms  that  the 
servant  Sesselja  has  stolen  it  and  drives  her  away.  Everything  is 
revealed,  however,  and  the  prince  marries  the  servant,  poorly 
rewarded  for  her  faithfulness,  who  was  indeed  also  a  princess. 
/  The  motive  of  the  sexual  persecution  by  the  father  is  the  same 
^s  in  the  previous  examples. 

That  the  mother  must  always  die  first  means,  as  in  the  lan- 
guage of  dreams,  that  the  mother  (in  the  wish  dream  of  the 
daughter)  is  the  sexual  rival  of  the  daughter  and  must  yield  to 
her  (infantilism). 

The  bird-prince  and  the  narration  of  how  princess  Sesselja 
became  pregnant  is  another  striking  example  of  sexual  fairy-tale 
symbolism  that  further  completes  our  deductions  regarding  the 
"  Lark." 

Sesselja,  who  is  followed  by  her  father,  is  depressed  and  gets 
the  bird  as  a  wish  complement  and  becomes  pregnant  through  it. 
It  becomes  indeed  later  also  her  mate.  Through  that,  that  the 
haughty  princess  Sesselja,  as  rival,  who  must  be  overcome,  is 
taken  up  in  the  structure,  there  is  brought  about  the  somewhat 
characteristic  transference.*  Pride,  unapproachableness,  com- 
bined with  cruelty,  as  sexual  characteristics  of  fairy-tale  heroines, 
or  much  more  of  the  woman  whom  the  fairy  prince  is  to  conquer, 
is  a  frequently  used  chief  motive  in  fairy  tales. 

Of  the  Peasant's  Son  Who  Marries  the  Queen  (Rittershaus, 
XLVIII,  p.  201). — The  peasant's  son  Finnur  in  his  childhood 
often  played  with  two  princes.  He  was,  however,  stronger  in 
every  way  than  they,  so  they  enviously  ignored  him.  They  under- 
took a  journey  into  the  world,  well  endowed,  but  in  contrast  to 

♦Perhaps  it  is  not  a  transference;  such  errors  also  occur  in  nature. 


SPECIAL   SEXUAL   FAIRY-TALE    MOTIVES  71 

Finnur,  who  also  sallied  forth,  they  spurned  the  assistance  of  a 
magic  being  who  offered  to  serve  them,  and  went  from  court  to 
court.  Finnur,  who  fell  in  with  them  at  the  courts  of  the  kings, 
made  himself  loved  everywhere  by  his  skilful  service  and  his 
strength  and  was  presented  with  magic  gifts.  A  little  table  which 
laid  itself,  a  jug  in  which  a  drink  came  when  one  wished  in  it,  and 
magic  shears  with  which  one  could  obtain  the  most  beautiful 
clothes. 

In  the  fourth  kingdom  in  which  the  youths  met  a  virgin  queen 
reigned  who  suffered  no  man  among  her  retinue  or  in  her  vicinity 
who  had  not  been  castrated.  The  princes  allowed  themselves  to 
be  castrated,  Finnur  preferred  to  be  banished  on  a  desert  isle, 
where  he  and  others  to  whom  the  same  fate  had  fallen,  maintained 
themselves  with  his  magic  gift.  The  queen  observed  this  and 
desired  an  explanation  from  him.  She  wished  to  possess  uncon- 
ditionally the  little  magic  table,  whereupon  Finnur  demanded  to 
spend  one  night  in  her  room  sleeping  on  the  floor.  Four  men 
with  lights  and  drawn  swords  watched  the  bed  in  which  the  queen 
slept.  For  the  magic  jug  he  demanded  to  sleep  in  her  bed  at  her 
feet.  Eight  men  watched  this  time  but  Finnur  did  not  stir.  For 
the  magic  shears  he  demanded  to  sleep  beside  the  queen  but  out- 
side the  bed  coverings.  The  watch  this  time  consisted  of  twelve 
men.  Finnur  wished  now  for  the  assistance  of  the  magician 
mentioned  in  the  beginning.  In  the  same  moment  he  found  him- 
self lying  underneath  the  bed  clothes  beside  the  queen  and  the 
men  who  would  run  him  through  on  that  account  could  not  stir 
a  limb,  they  were  transfixed  until  the  queen  cried  to  them :  "  Hey, 
put  out  the  lights,  put  up  your  swords,  and  do  not  strike  now  for 
he  is,  with  his  fiddle,  on  a  journey  in  my  beautiful  garden." 

The  following  morning  Finnur  was  enthroned  beside  the 
queen  and  a  magnificent  wedding  celebrated, 
r  The  last  quoted  portion  shows  how  rich  in  imagery  the  fairy- 
Itale  sexuality  is.  Garden  and  flowers  are  in  general  preferred 
jfigures  in  the  fairy  tales,  for  representing  or  concealing,  to  indi- 
cate the  human  sexual  organs. 

L  The  fairy  tale  "The  Proud  Queen"  (Rittershaus,  XLVII,  p. 
198)  deals  with  the  oft  recurring  motive  found  in  fairy  tales,  that 
the  unmarried,  haughty  queen  mocks  her  suitors,  has  them  shaved 
bald  and  their  clothes  covered  with  white  spots  until  one  of  the 


i 


72  WISHFULFILLMENT  AND  SYMBOLISM   IN  FAIRY  TALES 

Ugliest  men  conquers  her  and  afterwards  in  his  true  shape  be- 
comes her  husband. 

."  Rittershaus  cites  a  number  of  parallels  to  this  story.  The 
(close  cropped  head  probably  signifies  here,  as  in  the  biblical  tale 
of  Samson  and  Delilah,  a  sort  of  castration,  a  deprivation  of 
masculine  strength  (in  Samson  it  becomes  the  invincible  magic 
strength).  When  hair  is  mentioned  in  the  fairy  tale  (especially 
the  hair  of  men)  we  can  probably  almost  always  interpret  it  in 
its  significance  as  a  sign  of  sexual  strength. 

'*"  In  " Elesa  and  Bogi"  (Rittershaus,  LVIII)  the  princess 
behaves  in  the  same  manner ;  in  her  need  her  foster-brother,  who 
had  wooed  her,  but  had  been  scorned,  comes  to  her  help  against 
a  giant  Berserker  and  then  marries  her. 

In  "King  Throstle-Beard"  the  motive  is  similar.  The  proud, 
haughty  princess  has  to  marry  the  previously  scorned  king 
Throstle-Beard  disguised  as  a  beggar  with  whom  she  is  happy 
after  she  has  been  humbled. 

The  peasant's  son  who  married  the  queen  is  a  wish-fulfilling 
construction ;  from  the  standpoint  of  the  peasant's  son,  he  over- 
comes the  proud  princess.  In  "  King  Throstle-Beard  "  there  is 
still  a  sort  of  revenge  motive  added. 

In  the  fairy  tale  "The  White  Snake"  (Grimm,  17)  a  young 
man  is  consumed  with  love  for  a  proud  princess.  She  sought  a 
husband  but  let  it  be  known  that  whoever  wished  to  woo  her  must 
accomplish  a  difficult  task.  If  he  was  not  able  to  do  it  his  life 
would  be  forfeit.  Many  had  already  fruitlessly  risked  their  lives. 
The  young  man,  however,  succeeded  in  solving  three  such  tasks 
with  the  help  of  grateful  animals.  The  third  task,  for  example, 
was  that  he  should  fetch  her  a  golden  apple  from  the  tree  of  life. 
They  then  share  the  apple  of  life  and  eat  it  together  (sexual 
transposition  symbol)  ;  then  her  heart  is  filled  with  love  for  him! 
In  the  fairy  tale  "The  Riddle"  (Grimm,  22)  the  hero  came 
to  a  city  wherein  dwelt  a  beautiful  but  haughty  princess  who  had 
made  it  known  that  whoever  should  ask  her  a  riddle  that  she 
could  not  guess  should  be  her  husband:  if  she  guessed  it,  how- 
ever, he  would  have  his  head  cut  off.  The  hero  succeeded  in 
giving  her  a  riddle  that  she  could  not  guess,  whereupon  she  was 
compelled  to  become  his  wife. 

The  history  of  the  young  Tobias  ("  Book  of  Tobias,"  3  to  8) 


SPECIAL   SEXUAL   FAIRY-TALE    MOTIVES  73 

contains  in  somewhat  different  form  the  same  fundamental  theme, 
that  is  in  close  relation  with  some  of  the  following  examples 
w^here  the  same  characteristics  appear  transferred  to  the  male. 

A  spell  or  curse  lay  on  Sarah  that  every  man  who  was  to 
marry  her  perished  on  the  wedding  night.  Through  the  magic 
means  of  the  intestines  of  a  fish  which  were  procured  for  him 
by  a  benevolent  being — here  in  the  form  of  an  angel — Tobias  was 
delivered  from  this  spell  on  his  w^edding  night.  The  Biblical  tale 
gives  to  this  content  throughout  a  not  fully  corresponding  moral- 
izing form : 

The  old,  blind  Tobias  prays  God  to  allow  him  to  die  after  all 
the  affliction  and  the  abuses  he  endured  through  his  friends :  "  Oh 
Lord,  grant  me  mercy  and  take  my  spirit  in  peace ;  for  I  would 
much  rather  be  dead  than  to  live"  (Tob.,  Ill,  VI). 

And  it  came  to  pass  in  these  days  that  Sarah,  a  daughter  of 
Ragnel,  in  the  Medean  city  Rags  was  also  evilly  slandered  and 
rebuked  by  a  servant  of  her  father's. 

There  had  been  seven  men  given,  one  after  another,  and  an 
evil  spirit,  named  Asmodi,  had  killed  them  all  as  soon  as  they 
lay  with  her.  Thereupon  her  father's  servant  rebuked  her  and 
said :  "  God  grant  that  we  will  never  see  a  son  or  daughter  of 
thine  on  earth  thou  murderess  of  men"  (Tob.,  Ill,  7-10). 

After  these  words  she  went  into  an  upper  chamber  in  the 
house  and  neither  ate  nor  drank  for  three  days  and  three  nights 
and  continued  to  pray  and  lament  and  begged  God  that  he  would 
free  her  from  the  disgrace. 

In  the  same  hour  these  two  prayers  were  both  heard  by  the 
Lord  in  Heaven. 

And  the  holy  Raphael,  the  angel  of  the  Lord,  was  sent,  to  help 
both  because  their  prayers  were  offered  at  the  same  time  to  the 
Lord. 

The  old  Tobias  cried  out  in  the  belief  that  he  would  soon  die 
and  to  his  son,  the  young  Tobias,  he  gave  admonitions  and  dis- 
closed to  him  that  Ragnel  in  the  city  of  Rags  in  Medea  still  owed 
him  ten  pounds  of  silver  which  he  should  collect. 

The  old  Tobias  advised  him  also  to  take  a  companion  on  his 
journey. 

Then  the  young  Tobias  went  out  and  found  a  fine  young  fel- 
low who  had  dressed  himself  and  was  ready  to  travel. 


74         WISHFULFILLMENT  AND   SYMBOLISM    IN   FAIRY  TALES 

It  was  the  angel  Raphael  who  passed  for  an  Israelite  and 
knew  Ragnel  and  Rags  well. 

He  promised  the  young  Tobias  to  accompany  him  there  (com- 
pare Tob.,  V).    The  following  Tob.,  VI,  VII,  16-20,  VIII. 

And  Tobias  went  along  and  a  little  dog  ran  with  him.  The 
first  day's  journey  brought  them  to  the  river,  Tigus,  and  he  went 
in  to  bathe  his  feet ;  and  he  saw  a  great  fish  rush  to  devour  him. 
The  terrified  Tobias  cried  in  a  loud  voice :  "  O,  Lord,  it  will 
devour  me."  And  the  angel  spoke  to  him :  "  Grasp  him  by  the 
fins  and  pull  him  out."  And  he  pulled  him  up  on  the  land ;  there 
it  struggled  before  his  feet.  Then  spoke  the  angel:  "Cut  the 
fish  in  pieces,  the  heart,  the  gall  and  the  liver  keep  yourself,  for 
they  are  very  good  for  medicines." 

And  some  pieces  of  the  fish  they  cooked  and  took  them  with 
them  on  their  journey;  the  others  they  salted  so  that  they  might 
have  them  on  the  way  until  they  came  to  the  city  of  Rags  in 
Medea. 

Then  Tobias  spoke  to  the  angel  and  asked  him :  "  I  beg  you, 
Azaria  (this  name  the  angel  had  adopted  for  himself)  my  brother, 
that  you  will  tell  me  what  kind  of  remedies  can  be  made  of  the 
pieces  that  you  commanded  should  be  kept?  " 

Then  said  the  angel :  "  If  you  lay  a  piece  of  the  heart  in  glow- 
ing coals  the  smoke  from  it  will  drive  away  all  sorts  of  bad  spirits 
of  man  and  woman,  so  that  no  harm  can  come  through  them 
(Tob.,  VI,  i-io). 

They  then  went  to  Ragnel  and  the  angel  advised  Tobias  to 
sue  for  the  hand  of  Ragnel's  only  daughter  Sarah.  Tobias  de- 
layed, for  he  knew  that  already  seven  men  had  perished  on  their 
wedding  night  with  Sarah.  The  angel  directed  him  to  stay  and 
to  pray  with  her  for  three  days  and  to  lay  the  fish  liver  on  glowing 
coals  whereby  the  devil  would  be  driven  away.  Tobias  wooed 
Sarah ;  he  made  a  marriage  contract  and  ate  with  her ;  the  bridal 
chamber  was  made  ready  into  which  they  led  the  weeping  Sarah 
and  then  Tobias. 

Thereupon  he  took  a  piece  of  the  liver  out  of  the  sack  and  lay 
it  upon  glowing  coals.  The  angel  Raphael  took  the  spirit 
prisoner  and  bound  him  in  the  wilderness  far  away  in  Egypt. 

At  midnight  Ragnel  called  his  servants  to  make  a  grave ;  for 
they  suspected  it  might  go  with  Tobias  as  with  the  other  seven 


SPECIAL   SEXUAL   FAIRY-TALE    MOTIVES  75 

who  had  trusted  her.    Then  a  maid  was  sent  to  the  chamber  in 
order  to  see. 

She  found  both  of  them  well  and  fresh  and  sleeping  by  one 
another.  The  grave  was  filled  up  before  daybreak.  Thereupon 
there  was  again  celebrated  a  great  feast  (Tob.,  VI,  VII,  VIII). 

This  tale,  in  the  Bible,  is  garnished  with  moral  and  religious 
language  which  in  many  places  absolutely  does  not  suit  the  story. 

Notwithstanding  the  whole  fairy-tale  structure  is  very  trans- 
parent ;  the  salient  point,  according  to  my  view,  is  the  disenchant- 
ment of  Sarah  at  the  marriage  (freeing  from  a  bad  spirit;  these 
two  things  are  indeed  not  wholly  identical,  they  indicate,  how- 
ever, fundamentally  the  same  thing),  which  the  young  Tobias, 
after  seven  men  have  lost  their  lives,  obtains  by  means  of  magic, 
supplied  by  a  helpful  being,  here  an  angel. 

Those  fairy  tales  with  a  cruelty  motive,  where  a  savage  dragon 
who  rules  in  a  neighboring  kingdom  daily  or  yearly  desires  the 
sacrifice  of  a  maiden,  are  now  understandable  to  us. 

The  solution  consists  in  that  the  dragon  is  thought  of  as  the! 
rival  of  a  hero  who  frees  the  princess  and  vanquishes  the  dragon. 
In  place  of  the  dragon  another  cruel,  masculine  principle  may 
appear. 

Nikita  the  Tanner  (Afanassiew,  No.  30). — In  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Kiew  there  appeared  a  dragon.  He  desired  from  every- 
one a  beautiful  maiden  to  eat.  It  came  finally  to  the  daughter  of 
the  Czar,  However,  the  dragon  did  not  eat  her,  she  was  too  beau- 
tiful. He  dragged  her  to  his  cave  and  made  her  his  wife.  By 
means  of  a  little  dog  which  had  followed  her  she  was  able  to 
send  a  letter  back  home  and  get  an  answer  which  ran :  "  Try  and 
find  out  someone  who  is  stronger  than  the  dragon."  Through 
cajolery  she  got  the  dragon  to  tell  her  that  Nikita  the  tanner  in 
Kiew  was  stronger  that;  he.  Nikita  was  induced  by  the  Czar  to 
go  against  the  dragon  whom  he  vanquished  and  finally  drowned 
in  the  sea. 

From  "  The  Tzvo  Soldier's  Sons  Ivan"  (Afanassiew,  No.  33). 
One  Ivan,  who  had  turned  to  the  left  at  the  crossroads,  rode 
day  and  night  for  three  months,  then  he  came  to  a  strange  land 
where  grief  reigned.  In  the  capital  city  he  learned  that  every 
day  a  twelve-headed  dragon  rose  out  of  the  sea  and  each  time 
devoured  a  man.    Today  the  oldest  of  the  three  beautiful  daugh- 


76  WISHFULFILLMENT  AND  SYMBOLISM   IN   FAIRY   TALES 

ters  of  the  Czar  would  be  led  to  the  sea  to  serve  as  food  for  the 
dragon.  Ivan  rode  to  the  sea.  The  beautiful  Czarina  warned 
him.  He  had,  however,  enormous  strength.  As  the  dragon  rose 
raging  from  the  sea  he  killed  him.  A  water  carrier  of  the  king's 
found  the  rescued  one  and  brought  her  to  her  father.  He 
threatened,  on  the  way,  to  kill  her  if  she  did  not  say  he  was  her 
rescuer. 

A  second  dragon  demanded  (by  means  of  a  note  attached  to 
an  arrow  which  was  let  fly  through  a  window  into  the  hall  when 
the  Czar  and  the  nobles  were  assembled)  in  the  same  way  the 
second  daughter.  Ivan  again  went  through  the  same  adventure. 
The  water  carrier  demanded  that  she  say  to  her  father  what  he 
wished. 

Then,  in  the  same  manner  exactly,  it  came  the  turn  of  the 
youngest  daughter,  the  best  beloved  of  the  father,  Ivan  carried 
through  this  third  conflict  successfully,  and  killed  also  the  third 
dragon. 

Before  the  water  carrier  could  celebrate  his  wedding  with  her 
Ivan  came  to  the  palace  and  the  Czarina  knew  him  and  declared 
him  to  be  her  saviour  who  should  take  her  to  wife,  and  the  water 
carrier  was  hung. 

At  the  close  of  the  fairy  tale  "Ivan  Czarevitch  and  Bjely 
Poljanin"  (Afanassiew,  No.  36)  the  hero  came  in  the  three  times 
ninth  land  and  three  times  tenth  kingdom  where  a  princess  lived 
with  a  dragon  Czar.  He  killed  the  dragon,  freed  the  princess 
from  captivity,  and  married  her. 

In  the  fairy  tale  "The  Two  Brothers"  (Grimm,  60)  a  hunter 
comes  to  a  city  where  sadness  reigns.  Outside  the  city  is  a  high 
mountain  on  which  lives  a  dragon  who,  every  year,  must  have  a 
pure  young  maiden,  otherwise  he  lays  waste  the  land.  Now  only 
the  king's  daughter  is  left  who  is  to  be  sacrificed  on  the  following 
day.  The  hero  receives  superhuman  strength  by  drinking  from 
a  magic  goblet,  kills  the  dragon  and  marries  the  princess. 

The  motive  of  sexual  cruelty  is  contained  in  typical  form  in 
the  history  set  forth  in  the  fairy  tales  of  the  "  Thousand  and  One 
Nights." 
\/  The  king  swore  (so  that  no  one  could  be  untrue  to  him)  that 
each  night  he  would  choose  a  different  young  maiden  whom  he 
would  have  put  to  death  in  the  morning;  for  there  was,  in  the 


SPECIAL  SEXUAL  FAIRY-TALE   MOTIVES  ^^ 

whole  world,  no  virtuous  woman.  Each  evening  his  vizier  pro- 
cured for  him  a  new  daughter  of  a  prince  of  the  country  whom  in 
the  morning  he  had  killed.  Throughout  the  land  fathers  and 
mothers  lamented  and  finally  there  were  no  more  maidens  left 
except  the  two  daughters  of  the  chief  vizier  himself.  The  older 
wished  to  be  conducted  to  the  sultan.  By  means  of  the  fairy 
tales  which  she  spun  out  to  him  nightly — a  thousand  and  one — 
she  held  his  interest  so  that  each  time  he  put  off  her  execution 
until  she  had  finished. 

Schehersad  bore  him,  during  this  time,  three  sons.  At  the 
close  of  her  story  telling,  she  begged  him  for  permission  to  pre- 
sent the  children,  and  he  spared  her  life  for  their  sake. 

"  The  Prudent  Princess "  is  somewhat  related  to  the  previous 
fairytale  (Rittershaus,  XLIX). 

It  is  not  the  motive  of  sexual  cruelty  but  the  insatiableness 
which,  however,  is  usually  bound  up  in  the  fairy  tales  with  the 
first  motive. 

An  Emperor  has  a  very  fierce  son.  He  took  the  daughters 
of  the  treasurers  of  his  father  for  himself,  slept  three  nights 
with  them  and  then  sent  them  back  home.  Not  one  could  escape 
his  desire. 

A  little  daughter  was  born  to  one  of  the  treasurers  and  he  had, 
on  this  account,  great  anxiety.  He  spread  the  news  that  the  child 
was  dead  and  had  her  brought  up  in  secrecy.  At  twelve  years 
she  insisted  on  having  a  tower  for  herself  like  other  princesses. 
The  father  considered  her  lost,  as  in  this  manner  her  existence 
became  known. 

The  son  of  the  Emperor  had  also  noticed  her  and  this  year 
he  will  personally  collect  the  taxes  with  the  treasurer.  He  is 
dazzled  by  the  beauty  of  the  daughter  and  wishes  to  sleep  with 
her. 

She  then  gives  him  a  sleeping  draught,  packs  him  in  a  chest 
and  sends  it  to  the  Emperor.  On  awaking  the  prince  is  furious 
and  plots  revenge.  She,  however,  once  again  plays  him  a  trick 
and  shuts  him  in  the  tower  which  the  prince  had  intended  as  a 
prison  for  her.  He  is  found  sitting  fast  on  a  spiked  stool.  The 
princess  appears  as  an  Egyptian  physician  at  the  palace,  sets  him 
free  and  heals  him.  She  is  suspected  as  being  the  originator  of 
the  trouble  but  all  ruses  to  trap  her  prove  ineffectual. 


1 


78  WISHFULFILLMENT   AND   SYMBOLISM    IN    FAIRY   TALES 

Thereupon  the  king  and  his  son  prepare  a  war  of  vengeance 
against  the  treasurer  and  his  daughter.  According  to  a  promise 
previously  given  the  doctor  they  must  at  once  stop  the  fight  when 
the  physician  appears  with  the  flag  of  peace.  Then  there  is  a  ces- 
sation of  hostihties  and  the  marriage  of  both. 

In  B.  Schmidt  ("Das  Volksleben  der  Neugriechen,"  p.  171) 
we  find  the  following  case  from  Pausanius  (VI,  6,  7-10)  interest- 
ing to  us  on  account  of  its  associations. 

A  companion  of  Odysseus  had  committed  rape  on  a  maiden 
in  Temesa  and  was  stoned.  As  a  spirit  (vampire)  he  killed  every- 
thing until  they  erected  a  temple  to  him  and  yearly  sacrificed  the 
most  beautiful  virgin.  Finally  he  was  vanquished  by  Enthymos 
and  escaped. 

To  conclude  I  would  like  to  mention  that  group  of  beautiful 

J  fairy  tales  in  which  the  motive  of  the  persecuted  beauty  is  dealt 

''  with,  a  motive,  the  erotic  basis  of  which  is  very  clear.    One  can 

hardly  go  wrong  if  one  conceives  of  the  persecution  as  a  sexual 

rivalry ;  the  persecutor  will  do  some  harm  to  the  heroine  with 

(the  object  of  preventing  her  marriage  with  a  prince. 

"  Little  Snow-White "  is  probably  the  best  known  fairy  tale 
of  this  kind. 

Rittershaus  (XXVIII)  mentions  some  Icelandic  and  other 
settings  of  the  theme.  Sometimes  the  stepmother,  sometimes  the 
mother  is  the  persecutor.^  It  is  interesting  that  among  the  evil 
charms  which  the  persecutor  of  the  heroine  uses  (in  other  ver- 
sions spells  are  used)  is  a  belt  which  kills  the  heroine  unless  the 
king  of  Germany  comes  and  loosens  it  and  thereby  marries  the 
heroine,  or  unless  gold  of  the  same  quality  is  held  to  it.  In  this 
case  it  is  the  gold  ring,  of  the  fairy  prince,  which  is  made  of  tlie 
same  gold  through  which  the  heroine  is  delivered  and  married. 

Apuleius"  has  treated  the  theme  of  the  persecuted  beauty  in 
the  fairy  tale  of  "Amor  and  Psyche"  in  incomparably  beautiful 
language  and  so  oflFered  the  greatest  art  material  for  presentation. 

It  is  well  worth  while  to  consider  it  somewhat  in  detail. 

A  king  and  a  queen  had  three  daughters  of  great  beauty.    The 

^  This  fits  splendidly  into  the  theory  that  the  stepmother  signifies  the 
true  mother,  as  a  rival. 

0  "  Amor  und  Psyche,"  a  fairy  talc  of  Apuleius.  From  the  Latin  of 
Reinhold  Bachmann,  Leipzig,  Phil.  Reclam. 


SPECIAL   SEXUAL    FAIRY-TALE    MOTIVES  79 

youngest,  however,  was  of  incomparable  beautyJ  She  was  ad- 
mired Hke  the  beautiful  Venus,  the  Goddess  of  love.^  Psyche 
finds,  however,  only  admirers  but  no  husband  and  her  sorrowing 
father  receives  the  following  answer  from  the  oracle : 

Place  the  maiden  high  on  the  rocky  crag  of  the  mountain. 

Adorned  in  the  sorrowful  garb  of  marital  woe. 

Do  not  hope  for  a  son-in-law  of  mortal  birth 

A  terrible  one  will  arise  from  the  dragon's  tribe 

Then  flying  through  the  air  he  pursues  them  all 

And  brings  them  all  woe  with  fire  and  sword, 

Job  trembles  before  him,  all  the  gods  fear  him, 

The  sea  shudders  before  him :  even  the  Stygian  night.^ 

Instead  of  to  her  wedding,  Psyche  was  conducted,  in  obedience 
to  the  Oracle,  up  the  mountain  in  her  bridal  attire. 

In  characteristic  manner  she  herself  (like  other  fairy-tale 
princesses  in  similar  sagas)  is  less  troubled  than  those  about  her 
and  urges  herself  to  the  fulfillment  of  the  Oracle's  command. 
(One  is  tempted  to  say:  She  just  knows  that  nothing  evil  will 
befall  her!) 

Above,  the  anxious,  trembling  Psyche  was  seized  by  the  soft 
zephyrs  and  wafted  to  a  valley  and  placed  on  a  bed  of  flowers.^" 

On  awaking  she  found  herself  in  a  fairy  grove  and  sees 
before  her  a  house  built  by  godly  skill  (a  magic  castle)  from  the 

7  The  number  three  has,  as  usual  in  fairy  tales,  the  object  to  make 
fittingly  prominent  the  heroine,  even  as  the  fairy  tale,  often  awkwardly  so, 
creates  a  contrast  figure  to  the  hero,  who  spoils  everything  and  comes  to 
a  bad  end. 

8  Here  Venus,  the  later  mother-in-law,  the  role  of  persecutor  just  as 
in  other  fairy  tales  a  witch,  a  giantess,  or  stepmother. 

9  This  verse  reminds  one  of  the  fairy  tale  in  which  the  insatiable 
dragon  demands  the  virgin  sacrifice.  Also  the  following  funeral  pro- 
cession (=  wedding  procession)  to  the  mountain  corresponds  to  it  and 
speaks  for  the  correct  interpretation  of  the  dragon  figure  in  the  fairy  tale. 

1°  Here  Psyche  enters  the  magic  sphere.  This  instant  corresponds  to 
the  appearance  of  the  magic  mist,  in  the  Icelandic  fairy  tales,  the  going 
astray  in  the  forest  in  the  German,  etc.  Zephyr  corresponds  at  the  same 
time  to  what  is  frequently  demonstrated  in  the  fairy  tales,  the  magic  cloak 
or  other  similar  wish  means  of  translation  through  the  air.  It  is  unfor- 
tunate that  we  to-day  with  our  imperfect  balloons  are  not  so  far  advanced. 

Here  begins  the  production  of  a  wish  structure  which  improves  upon 
the  preceding  and  rather  unpleasant  position  of  Psyche.  Why  does  it  re- 
semble so  strikingly  a  dream  and  the  wish  phantasies  of  the  psychotic? 


80  WISHFULFILLMENT   AND   SYMBOLISM    IN    FAIRY   TALES 

richest  and  most  splendid  material.  Within  everything  was  con- 
sidered and  she  heard  servants'  voices^^  which  invited  her  to  a 
most  pleasing  repose  and  to  a  most  excellent  table.^-  Also,  after- 
wards, the  most  beautiful  music  was  sung.  In  the  evening  she 
lay  down  to  rest ;  by  a  soft  sound  she  was  frightened,  she  trembled, 
fearing  something  undefined.  Already  there  is  an  unknown  mate 
there  who  marries  Psyche  before  daybreak,  yet  again  hastens  away.^^ 
He  warns  her  later  of  her  sisters  who  visit  her  and  wish  to  tear 
from  her  the  secret  of  her  marriage  to  a  god.^*  Unfortunately 
without  success.  The  envious  sisters  who  were  carried  by  like 
zephyrs  into  the  magic  fields,  persuaded  her,  until  at  last  she 
finally  looked  at  her  divine  spouse  by  the  aid  of  a  lamp  and 
awakened  him  by  incautiously  spilling  oil  upon  him. 

They  had  represented  to  her,  that  her  husband  was  perhaps, 
as  the  oracle  proclaimed,  a  hideous  dragon,  who  would  yet  devour 
her.  Amor,  however,  makes  his  escape.^^  Psyche  revenged  her- 
self on  her  sisters  by  telling  them  that  Amor  was  her  lover,  and 
declared  that  he  had  run  away  from  her  because  of  the  exposure 
of  his  secret,  but  that  he  was  now  going  to  woo  one  of  the  sisters. 
They  hastened  to  the  mountain,  threw  themselves,  wilhout  the 
help  of  the  zephyrs,  into  the  air,  and  were  most  miserably  dashed 
to  pieces. 

Psyche  wandered,  full  of  misery,  through  all  countries  seeking 
Amor,  while  Venus,  who  had  learned  besides  of  the  adventure  of 
Amor,  in  renewed  anger  sought  her  rital  in  order  to  punish  her. 

Finally  Psyche  voluntarily  gave  herself  up  to  the  wrathful 
goddess,  was  naturally  badly  treated  and  was  required  to  fulfill 

/-a*  11  As  expressed  in  psychoses. 

"A  "little  table  sets  itself." 

13  It  has  already  been  mentioned  that  certain  psychotics  experience  a 
'   '  quite  identical  nocturnal  embrace  of  an  invisible  spouse. 
n  1*  This  mystic  union  with  the  god  as  a  higher  being  occurs  as  a  psychic, 

'^sexual  wish  structure  again  and  again.  The  Christian  mystic  has  created 
wonderful  cases  of  this  sort.  The  painting  of  Coreggio,  "  The  Mystic 
Marriage  of  St.  Catherine,"  in  the  Louvre,  has  represented  such  an  event 
in  a  charming  manner.  A  comical  counterpart  suggests  itself  to  me  in  a 
similar  hallucinatory  experience  of  a  patient.  She  invested  the  Lord  with 
checkered  trousers.  These  trousers  betrayed  and  led  to  the  track  of  the 
youth  who  in  the  wish  structure  of  the  patient  had  become  God. 
I'We  have  already  met  this  motive  in  different  fairy  tales. 


SPECIAL   SEXUAL   FAIRY-TALE    MOTIVES  8l 

three  difficult  tasks.^®  First,  like  Cinderella,  she  must  separate 
the  different  kinds  of  seeds  from  a  pile.  Helpful  ants  quickly 
executed  the  task.  Venus  believed  that  Amor  had  helped  her 
and  charged  her  to  bring  her  a  lock  of  the  golden  fleece.  Psyche, 
who  frequently  wished  to  end  her  life,  was  instructed  by  the 
nymph  Arundo  how  she  could  solve  this  problem.  Third  she 
must  bring  water  from  a  spring,  guarded  by  dragons,  which  sup- 
plied the  Stygian  swamps  and  the  waters  of  Cocytus.  Jupiter's 
eagle  helped  her  this  time. 

Finally  Venus  wishes  a  box  full  of  the  beauty  of  Proserpine. 
As  Psyche  in  despair  would  throw  herself  from  a  tower,  it  speaks 
in  an  encouraging  and  counseling  voice/^  telling  her  in  what 
manner  she  can  carry  out  this  most  difficult  task  and  safely  enter 
the  under  world.  She  came  near  forfeiting  her  life  by  being  over- 
come with  sleep  emanating  from  the  box  which  she  had  opened  in 
her  curiosity  in  order  to  take  for  herself  some  of  the  underworld 
beauty.  The  recovered  Amor,  escaping  from  the  bondage  of  his 
mother,  comes  to  her  assistance  and  turns  back  the  sleep  into 
the  box,  and  Psyche  delivers  the  present  of  Proserpine.  Amor — 
instead  of,  as  in  other  tales,  vanquishing  the  persecutrix  as  the 
hero — now  goes  to  Zeus  in  order,  as  his  favorite,  to  procure  de- 
liverance from  the  difficulties. 

Zeus  charges  him  with  having,  in  various  ways,  wounded  his 
heart  and  stained  it  by  earthly  passion  and  brought  the  customs 
into  disrepute  through  an  objectionable  love  affair  and  spoiled  his 
reputation  and  authority,  when  he  had  induced  him  to  be  changed 
into  serpents  and  flames,  into  a  bull  and  a  swan.^^  However,  he 
promises  to  help  him;  the  mortal  Psyche  receives  the  nectar  of 
immortality^^  and  is  united  forever  with  the  godly  Amor. 

The  author  concludes  this  study  with  a  feeling  of  great  in- 
completeness. Unfortunately  he  has  taken  only  a  very  little  from 
the  rich  treasures  of  the  fairy  tales — perhaps  more,  however,  than 
has  been  taken  formerly  from  these  beautiful  creations,  thanks  to 
the  Freudian  psychological  discoveries.    There  remains  yet  very 

16  DifBculties,  which  interfere  with  the  attainment  of  the  goal.  See 
earlier. 

17  Similarity  with  a  teleological  hallucination. 

18  What  a  beautiful  collection  of  masculine  sex  symbols ! 

19  Compare  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  life. 


82  WISH  FULFILLMENT  AND   SYMBOLISM    IN   FAIRY  TALES 

much,  much  fine  material,  that  has  escaped  this  somewhat  crude 
work.  Compared  with  the  results  of  dream  investigations  and 
psychoanalysis,  however,  the  results  are  of  significance  in  so  far 
that  one  will  hardly  be  able  to  say  that  they  have  been  arbitrarily 
adapted  to  the  point  of  view.  The  material  appears,  however,  to 
speak  for  itself  and  corroborate  our  views.  Also  it  appears  to  me 
that  they  represent  another  step  taken  on  the  way  of  comparative 
psychology. 


INDEX 

PAGE 

ABASIA  symbol  S6 

Adam  and   Eve    6i 

Adopted  child  phantasy ^3 

Adoration  by  Diirer  27 

Afanassiew    I7 

Amor  and  Psyche  44.  50.  78 

Anchor    26 

Animals  as  symbols    28 

Animal  birth   S6 

Anunciation    61 

Anunciation  lillies  56 

Anunciation  of  Virgin  54 

Anthesterins    35 

Apuleius  44.  50 

Armida,  nun  in  temple   7 

Awl    68 

BEAR,  little   30 

Beautiful  Sesselja  69 

Bechstein's  collection   33 

Bjorn  Bragastakkur  67 

Black  dog  50 

Bogi  and  Elsa   72 

Brahman  and  serpent  57 

Bride,  forgotten  47 

Bride,  true  46 

Brothers,  two   76 

Brown   dog    44 

Burning   30 

Burning  bush  of  Moses   35 

Burning  of  skin  57 

CAPTAIN  of  Kopenik  24 

Carnation   54 

83 


84  INDEX 

Cat    55 

Cinderella    15,  41 

Clever  Hans    23 

Color  s3Tnbols  26 

Condensation  mechanism    25 

Construction  of  symbols  in  dream  29 

Cora    60 

Coreggios'  mystic  marriage   80 

Cow  Son  of  Storm  Knight   52 

Cross    26 

Cruelty  motive   76 

Curse,  Godmother's  53 

DAME  Halle   15 

Daughter-father  motive  66 

Daughter-mother    62 

Deficiency  substitutes  14 

DeHrium,  wish    10 

Dementia  precox   32 

Dementia  precox  and  object  identification   9 

Demeter    60 

Desert  fairy  tale   21 

Desert  story   17 

Dionysian   feasts    28 

Dionysian    revels    34  35 

Displacement   51 

Dog,  black    50 

Dog,  brown   44 

Double  birth    56 

Dragons    36 

Dream  analysis  4 

Dream  of  prisoner   11 

Dream  soul    43 

Dream  work    28 

Drudge  of  all  Work  65 

Diircr,  A.,  adoration  2^ 

ELSA  and  Bogi  ^2 

Enchantment  as  sexual  revenge  57 

Enthymos    78 


INDEX  85 

Erechtheus 35 

Erogenous  zones    51 

Erotic  basis   78 

Eve  60 

Eve  and  Adam  61 

Eye  of  God   26 

FACETIOUS  nights   68 

Fairy  tale,  wish  structure  12 

Fast  of  Montanus  40 

Father-daughter   motive    66 

Father  persecution  65,  66 

Fertilization  symbol    60 

Finnur    70 

Fire   30,  57 

Fire-engine     57 

Fish  symbol  52 

Flower  feasts   36 

Forest 30 

Forgetting    49 

Forgotten  bride    47 

Forms  of  wish  structures   4,  11 

Foundling  phantasy    6s 

Francis  of  Assisi  35 

Free  Masons   24 

Frog  King  27 

Frost,  the  17 

Fruitfulness  symbols    40 

Fylgia  42 

GOD,  eye  of  26 

Godmother's   curse    53 

God's  blessing  58 

Goethe    12 

Gold  children    55 

Gottfried  Keller  5 

Gradiva 6,  49 

Grandeur,  ideas  of 9 

Grumbling  ox-man   46 


86  INDEX 

HAGENSCHWANZ   3i 

Hallucinations  and  teleology  35 

Hay  shocks 52 

Hazel  Branch   39 

Hearn,  Lafcadio 7 

Helga,  peasant  daughter  68 

Hildur  and  Jonides    48 

History  of  Wassilissa 59 

Holy  Ghost  symbol  54 

Hysteria  analysis  31 

Hysteria  and  symbolism 31 

Hysteria  and  transposition  51 

IDENTIFICATION  with  object  9 

Impregnation  symbol  54.  56 

Infantile  immorality  62 

Infantile  material    62 

Infantile  rivalries  62 

Infantilism   5^ 

Ingibjorg 50 

Introduction I 

Isol    47,  48 

Isota  47 

Ivan    75 

Ivan  Cow^  Son   52 

Ivan  Czarevitch  and  Bj  ely  Poef j  anin  76 

Ivan  from  the  Pea  59 

JACK  in  Luck  23 

Jensens,  W.  Gradiva   6 

Jonides  and  Hildur   48 

KING  Throstle-Beard  72 

Kisa    55 

Kiss,  false   47 

Knights,  three  58 

Kijpenik,  captain  of   24 

Kokoro    7 

LARK,  singing  41 


INDEX  87 

Larvae    36 

Leg  symbolisms    56 

Lemures    36 

Letters  as  symbols 26 

Lillies    56 

Little  Bear   30,  58 

Little  Hazel  Branch  39 

Little  Snow-white   63 

Little  Tear  Jug 12 

Little  Turnip     58 

Love  a  toxemia  49 

Love  potion  49 

MAINADES    35 

Manes    36 

Manwolf   43 

May  sports 41 

Moses  and  serpent  34 

Mother-daughter    62 

Mother-in-law   79 

Mover  of  mountains  58 

Mustachio   58 

Mythological  digression 36 

NEUISLANDISCHE  Marchen  13 

Nikita  the  tanner  75 

Nun  in  Temple  of  Armida 7 

Nuts  as  symbols 40 

OBJECT  identification   9 

Oda  and  serpent 33 

Offa 68 

O-Toyo   7 

Overcoming  rival  49 

Overdetermination   62 

Owl's  heads   28 

Ox-man,   grumbling    46 

PARADIGMS    32 

Peasant  daughter  Helga  68 


88  INDEX 

Peasant's  son  and  queen 70 

Persecuted  beauty  78 

Persecution  motive  65,  66 

Personification  in  symbols 27 

Pharaoh's    dream    55 

Plough    symbols     40 

Poetic  phantasy  and  dreams   5 

Pomegranate    60 

Poseidon    35 

Post   horn    24 

Potion,  love   49 

Prince  bewitched   44 

Prison  psychoses   11 

Proud   Queen    71 

Prudent    Princess    17 

Psyche  and  Amor    44,  50 

Psychotic  mechanisms    5 

QUEEN  and  peasant's  son 70 

Queen,  the  proud    71 

REALITY  surrogates   n 

*  Revenge,  sexual  57 

J  Riddle    72 

Rittershaus,  A 13 

Rival,  sexual  49,  65 

Rivalry,  in  f antile   62 

Russian  fairy  tales   17 

SACRIFICE,    virgin    79 

St.  Catharine,  mystic  marriage  80 

Samson's  birth    54 

Scales  26 

Schwind,  Moritz  v 11 

Serpent  and  Brahman  57 

Serpent  and  Moses  35 

Serpent  and  Oda  2>Z 

Serpent  and  sexuality    34 

Serpents  as  symbols    28,  34 

Sesselja  69 


INDEX  89 

Seven   55 

Seven  league  boots  14 

Seven  Ravens   62 

Sexual  cruelty   1^ 

•  Sexual  motive  in  fairy  tales  65 

Sexual  revenge  57 

Sexual  rival  50 

Sexual  significance  of  serpent  34,  36 

Singing  lark    41 

Shroud 13 

Shrove-tide  customs   40 

Skin,  burning  of   57 

Sleeping  beauty  38,  54 

Snake,   white    63,  72 

Soul    42,  43 

Spyri,  Johanna   6 

v*  Stepmother   62 

I.  Stepmother  in  tales    15 

Storm  Knight  52 

Straparola    56 

Substitution  in  symbols    34 

Surrogate  for  reality  11 

Susanna  v.  Klettenberg   35 

Symbol  construction  in  dream   29 

Symbolic   substitution    34 

Symbolism    24 

Symbolism  in   hysteria    31 

Symbolism  of  fairy  tale ZZ 

Symbols,   ambiguity  of    25 

TELEOLOGICAL  hallucinations    35 

Tear  Jug,  Little   12 

Teleology  of  dream  structure  13 

Thirteen    54,  62 

Three zz,  39,  52,  55,  78,  79 

Three  knights   58 

Three  languages    23 

Throat  symptoms  52 

Thousand  and  one  nights  y^ 

Tobias    72 


90  INDEX 

Transposition  in  hysteria  51 

Transposition  upward   51 

Tristram    47 

True  bride  4^ 

Turnip,  Little 58 

Twelve  brothers    62 

Twelve  caskets  62 

Two  brothers    76 

Two  soldiers'  son   75 

UPROOTER-OF-OAKS    58 

Upward  transposition    51 

VENUS,  mother-in-law    79 

Virgin   sacrifice    79 

Vitse  offae   68 

Vogelweide,  W.  von  T 6 

WASSILISSA  with  golden  braid  59 

Werwolf   43 

Whipping   with   twigs    40 

White  snake    72 

Wish  delirium  10 

Wish  structures   4 

i  Witches    43 

Words  as  symbols   26 


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